Most Likely to Succeed
by odetowords
Summary: Their childhood dreams used to consist of fighting adult tyranny, but now they're full of college acceptance letters, state championships, good grades and getting laid. A teen fic starring Sector V and others.
1. One More Year

**A/N: Hello and welcome to what has been a work in process for a very long time. For starters, this story is rated T due to some swearing and some suggestive content and not-so-appropriate themes. All of our favorite kids have been decommissioned, and this is what I see happening to them in high school. I tried to use as many minor characters from the show as possible so I wouldn't have to put in random OC's. The main ones that you should know (and if you want to look them up in the KND Code Module Wiki to see what they look like) are:**

 **Numbuh 78: Angeline, Numbuh 13: Seth, Numbuhs 44 and 44: Pete and Peter Doblemitz, Numbuh 11.0: Kade, Numbuh 10: Eva. And of course if there are any other names that you don't recognize, just let me know and I'll be more than happy to let you know! This has drug on far too long, so without further ado, I present to you Most Likely to Succeed.**

 **I do not own Codename: Kids Next Door or any characters involved.**

* * *

 ** _Monday -_** ** _8:30 a.m_**

 ** _McClintock High - Band Room_**

There was blood, literally everywhere. Seeped into the collar of his white tee shirt, all over his hands, red drops on the floor and even some on his shoes. The teenage boy was groaning in pain, looking up at the ceiling, trying to stop his more-likely-than-not broken nose from bleeding. Although Herbie was in agony, the other three teenagers in the chilly band room seemed grateful for their friend's unfortunate run-in with a freshman color guard. "You know, we really should go to the athletic trainer." Virginia Sims, the only girl in the small group of ragtag band nerds spoke, looking at the bespectacled boy.

"Why would we?" Bartie asked adding a Yipper Card 89 to the deck that sat between him and Hoagie on the floor.

"Bartie. His nose is broken," Virginia insisted. "Look at it! There is blood literally gushing from it!"

"Okay? Remember when I took a blow to the balls from a flag? Or when Gilligan got knocked over the head with one? We all got out of practice, so it's worth the pain. It's worth the pain, right Herb?" Bartie grinned at the boy who was currently almost through his second towel from all the blood.

"Definitely not." He mumbled groggily. Bartie only rolled his eyes and placed another Yipper card down. Hoagie looked up at Herbie, staring at his nose,

"Not to mention, it's disgusting and going to be a mess to clean up," Virginia began still staring at the floor.

"Who cares? We're not the ones cleaning it up." Hoagie muttered, shoving his glasses up his nose.

"Are the three of you seriously more worried about my blood being a mess to clean up than the amount of blood coming out of my nose?" Herbie stared mostly at the two boys on the floor, who ignored him.

"If we take Herbie to the trainer we'll have to go back to practice and it's so hot outside!" Bartie whined, falling back onto his back on the cold, but not yet dirty, tiled floor. He rolled over and rested his forehead on the ground, spreading all of his long limbs out. The door opened, making all four of the teenagers jerk their heads towards it, only to relax once again when it revealed their tall, dark, heavyset friend with a bag of ice.

"I don't know if it'll help, but-" He trailed off, glancing around before looking back up. "We should take him somewhere. Before he passes out or dies or something." Kade said, stepping over Bartie's stretched out body and plopping down next to Hoagie.

"The trainer!" Virginia exclaimed, "Why do none of you idiots ever listen to me!?" She called out, looking pointedly at each of them. Kade immediately started shaking his head,

"Can't do trainer. Wally's in there and I'd rather not start out senior year getting my ass kicked before school even starts."

"You're literally like three of Wally. How can he kick your ass?" Kade didn't respond and only glared the dark-haired girl.

"We could go to urgent care." Hoagie suggested, gathering up the deck of Yipper cards and shoving them into his Saxophone case. "I'll drive."

"We get out of practice and we avoid getting our asses kicked. It's a win-win!" Bartie exclaimed quickly jumping up and grabbing his trumpet case before making a beeline to the door, "Come on, Herbie's going to croak if we wait any longer." Hoagie and Kade glanced at each other and then back to Herbie.

"Carry me," He reached his arms out, the cloth dropping from his nose and revealing how much blood truly was gushing. Hoagie and Kade glanced at each other once again before laughing and walking towards the door.

"We're going to urgent to care with or without you!" Hoagie called behind his shoulder and began laughing once again when he heard Herbie mumbling and swearing.

As Virginia vividly explained to their middle-aged and balding, band-director, why all five of them had to go the four boys quickly, made their way to Hoagie's eighteen-year-old hatchback Subaru. Virginia jogged over to the car, "Davis seemed pretty pissed off that we skipped before our first game but he'll get over it." She said, adjusting her hair so that it wasn't in as tight of a ponytail.

"We aren't the problem; it's the freshman." Bartie spoke, "It's always the freshman." He put his phone in his pocket and pulled on the door handle incessantly, waiting for Hoagie to unlock the door. Finally, he opened the door and shoved Herbie towards the middle, leaving him on his right side and Virginia on his left, because Kade refused to get any closer to that bloody mess of a teenage boy than he already was. As Hoagie started the car, all five teenagers cringed from the noise it made,

"Is it supposed to do that?" Kade wondered from the passenger seat as Hoagie rolled his blue eyes and the engine finally roared to life.

"No, but it's better than riding in any of your junk cars," He answered, making Virginia lean up and punch his arm rather hard, "And it's big enough too."

"If you say one more bad thing about Betty, I'll kick your ass." Betty was, other than Hoagie's mom, the name of Virginia's beat-to-hell black Camry that Virginia received during her 70's rock phase. Hoagie only laughed and shook his head,

"You know how weird it is right? That you named your car after my mom?" He looked at her through the rearview as he pulled out of the school's parking lot.

"Shut up, you know it's from the song," She laughed and shook her head, "You know the one 'Woah black Betty, bam-ba-lam'-"

"Yeah, Ginny, we know the song." Bartie interrupted her, making her shoot him a glare from the other side of the near-dead teenage boy sitting in between them. "Honestly, it doesn't hold a candle to any Floyd song."

 _ **9:26 a.m**_

 _ **IHOP**_

The two teenagers sitting in the car were sweating, despite having all the windows down and the sunroof open. Truthfully, they both looked gross. Just finished with cross country practice, the duo hopped into Rachel's Civic and went to their favorite (and only within ten miles) breakfast joint. They walked into the almost vacant restaurant and requested a booth. Sliding into the cushioned seats, they were handed menus and the waitress took their drink orders (black coffee). "I'm leaning pancakes, but the french toast is screaming my name." The blonde said, staring at the menu in conflict. She looked up the teenage boy sitting in the booth across from her who looked up from his menu, over his glasses, and asked,

"What kind of pancakes?"

"Blueberry." He made a face and shook his head as he responded.

"French toast."

"Yeah?" He nodded and she put her menu down, pushing it to the edge of the table for the waitress to pick up. "You?" She asked as he did the same, placing his menu on top of hers.

"Ham and egg melt with avocado." He answered, cracking his knuckles. She made a low groaning noise, causing him to look up and raise a single eyebrow (she noticed that it was always his left eyebrow).

"Sounds good. But not as good as french toast." She winked, causing him to smile. The waitress came back with their coffees and took their order, giving them one of those looks that they always seem to get when they go out together. The "Aw-teenage-love-is-so-nice-and-innocent" look. It got annoying after awhile; especially since they were not dating.

"Oh, hey," Nigel began after wincing from taking a sip of the scorching hot drink, "Lizzie and I are back together." And if Lizzie stays in the picture, they'll probably never date. Rachel stared at him before finally saying one word,

"Why?" She knew why. He gave her the same spiel everytime the two began dating again. (She means well; we're good together; she needs a homecoming date. And of course- even though he never mentioned it- she knew he was getting laid.) But she didn't know why. What prompts Nigel Uno, the varsity track and cross country runner, great student (4.1 GPA), determined (albeit sometimes crazy) boy to date Lizzie Devine, crazy, mean cheerleader?

It was definitely the sex. Rachel knew it was the sex.

"We're meant to be together, Rachel. She gets me." Rachel visibly rolled her eyes, which prompted Nigel to sigh and shake his head, "You know, I shouldn't have mentioned anything." Rachel took a long drink of her coffee, despite it burning her tongue.

"If you want to date Lizzie, I support you." She finally responded, gently nudging his leg with her sneaker.

"You know, that would mean a lot more if you meant it." He answered, a small smirk tugging on his lips. Rachel shook her head and laughed,

"You know," She began, mocking him, "I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it." The duo had the Lizzie argument more than newlywed couples had the baby argument; it used to result in yelling back and forth but the more they had it, the quicker they got over it. And that's what they did. And that's when one of them had to change the subject. Today, it was Nigel,

"Did I tell you what Charlie did this morning?" He asked. Rachel smiled and shook her head. Charlie (or Charles when he's in trouble) is Nigel's cat that pukes everywhere, poops outside of the litter box, and sneaks dead rodents inside the house and places them on various beds. "So I got out of bed this morning and the first thing I felt was cat puke under my foot." Rachel made a gagging noise and stuck her tongue out,

"Socks?"

"No socks."

"I'd kill him."

"Thought about it."

Their food came and they ate in silence, both of them on their phones. Rachel scrolled through Twitter, trying to distract herself with the latest meme rather than getting herself worked up over the school year (that hadn't even started yet) that was more-likely-than-not going to end up disastrous. She reached for the maple syrup and began drowning her french toast in it, much to the exasperation of Nigel. "You're ruining it." He said.

"Huh?" She looked down at the pieces of bread that were quite literally swimming in syrup. The blonde looked up, "Sorry I don't eat everything dirt dry." She sarcastically muttered.

"It tastes better." He defended, taking a bite of his sandwich. "You get the authentic taste of the food." He added as he continued chewing. Rachel mumbled something that sounded like 'yeah, whatever' and went back to her breakfast.

They paid the bill and drove home, Nigel's home, specifically. She put the car in park outside of his house, but he stayed still. For the first time since the last time him and Lizzie were still dating, you could cut the tension in the car with a knife. "What do you have against Lizzie?" He asked, staring directly ahead.

"Seriously?" She scoffed and looked over at him. "She's mean, Nigel. She's so mean."

"No she's not," He defended her. Rachel laughed, except instead of her usually harmonious laughter, it was full of disdain.

"Yeah, Nigel, she is. And it rubs off on the people around her." She kept staring at him as if willing him to make eye-contact with her. He didn't. "Do you want examples? Kuki; I swear hanging out Lizzie has literally sucked the life out of her. Eva. Fanny." This time he did look at her, with a nasty look in his eyes.

"Don't make what happened with you and Fanny Lizzie's fault. You know whose fault it is." He responded. And Rachel could see the ever-so-slight gleam of pride that he got in his eyes whenever he caught Rachel off-guard. Especially in situations like this.

"You don't know shit about what happened with me and Fanny. I know you have a hard time understanding this, but not everything they say is true." She felt the overwhelming urge to vomit, just like she does whenever someone even mentions Fanny Fulbright. Nigel knows that. "Need another example?" She reached over and pulled the passenger side visor down, revealing a mirror that Nigel was staring directly into.

"Rachel, you think everyone, no matter how slightly involved with Lizzie they are, is awful. The problem when we date isn't me or Lizzie, it's you." He said. Making Rachel close her eyes and let out another laugh.

"No, Nigel. Whenever you're dating Lizzie, you just forget I exist. Usually, because you're too busy kissing Lizzie's ass. And when it's not Lizzie, it's Wally or Patton." He sat there, staring at himself in the small, immaculately clean mirror. After seemingly forever passed, he turned his head towards Rachel, flipped the visor up and said,

"You know, you call Lizzie mean, but you can be pretty damn nasty too." He had that gleam in his eyes because this time he had actually rendered her speechless. Moments passed and his blue eyes seemed to scream I won.

He then got out of the car, leaving Rachel, and her mental list of everything she should've said, alone.

 _ **12:46 p.m**_

 _ **McClintock High - Girl's Locker Room**_

Kuki Sanban only wanted one thing, and it was to be at home, in her bed. But instead, she was stuck staring into a mirror as all of her friends swooned over Henrietta's date with Seth Ingelheim. "Puberty worked wonders for him," The blonde gushed. She still had a slight German accent if you listened close enough, which most people didn't. They usually just stared at her chest. "I mean his face is so clear. Not even a single blackhead!" She exclaimed, with that puppy-love look in her eyes. Eva visibly rolled her eyes and said what they were all thinking,

"We get it Hattie, Seth has perfect skin. Just shut up already." Henrietta blew out a breath and rolled her eyes, but let it go. Eva turned around and looked at the Oriental girl, untying her white cheer shoes. "So, Kuki, how's Patton?" Eva turned around from her position right in front of the mirror. Kuki tried to ignore the subtle look of snark playing across her perfect facial features and how she could feel her own face heating up at the mere mention of that asshole. But for some reason, instead of filtering what she said, like she had for the past three years, her mouth spat without her brains approval,

"Patton's a dick." She deadpanned, tightening her ponytail.

"Spill," Fanny sat down on the bench and crossed her pale legs, looking up at Kuki expectantly, almost excited. The dark haired girl looked around and saw eyes that were begging for more drama and gossip to start their last year of high school with. Kuki only shrugged her shoulders and thought to herself, shouldn't have said anything, Sanban.

"He said that he didn't have time for a relationship, right after he came in my mouth." Her eyes slightly widened as she did it again. Maybe she did want to expose him, after all. And maybe she was just screwing with Fanny because Kuki had her own suspicions that he and Fanny hooked up right after he dumped Kuki.

"On a lighter note," Lizzie interrupted, like normal because Lord forbid her not be the center of attention for more than two minutes, "Nigel and I are back together."

"Oh yeah? I thought you were gonna go for a Doblemitz this year?" Henrietta wondered, looking into the mirror, rebraiding her flawless blonde hair. "You know, you and Eva tag team 'em?"

"That and I saw him and Rachel getting pretty touchy a couple weeks ago." Eva pointed out, making Lizzie roll her eyes and flip her hair,

"Rachel McKenzie? Puh-lease. One hand-job and I'll have, whatever their relationship is, shut down ASAP." She dug through her cheer-bag and found her Dove deodorant and reapplied. "Besides, aren't her and Chad still together?" Fanny rolled her emerald eyes so dramatically it was painful.

"I'm still not sure how they got together in the first place," She muttered under her breath. Kuki leaned against the locker and bit her tongue. She wasn't sure exactly why Fanny had a special loathing for Rachel or why they all had to hate her in return just because Fanny did. Apparently there was a big falling out sometime between eighth grade and freshman year, and she assumed it had something to do with Fanny becoming a cheerleader; but surprisingly, Fanny never gave the details, despite Lizzie begging for them so she could, in other words, 'expose Rachel so Nigel would finally only pay attention to her'. Despite popular opinion, Kuki thought Rachel was kinda cool, not that she would ever say that out loud.

"Last I heard, they were still dating. Kinda amazing that they could stay together, actually." Henrietta elaborated, making Fanny jerk her head up and glare,

"Hopefully, he's cheating on her and gives her herpes," Fanny muttered. Lizzie laughed and looked at her fellow red-head,

"Oh, Fanny, honey, we want something worse than herpes." Fanny and Lizzie began giggling uncontrollably as Eva decided it was time to change the subject. Besides, Rachel McKenzie was a boring, outdated topic.

"I recently found out that I had sex with both Doblemitz twins." She claimed, looking at her fellow cheerleaders.

"What?" Kuki laughed as she looked at Eva, who was also giggling.

"Yeah. They both look exactly alike!" She defended herself. "Honestly, I'm not even sure which one I was dating." That sent them all doubling over in laughter. Kuki wiped a tear from her eye and looked over and saw Valerie dramatically stomping in, looking like a complete wreck. "Wow, you look like a mess."

"Yeah, what happened to you?" Lizzie asked, putting on mascara.

"The football players were running down the hallway, acting like idiots and just knocked me over! And they were in complete padding and covered in filth!" Kuki felt a small pang in her heart for Valerie. Yeah, sure, she was an awful person, but her uniform was going to be hell to clean. Especially before the first football game on Friday. "Boys are animals." The blonde turned to Kuki, "I can't believe you and Patton are a thing!"

"You missed it, Val. 'Patton's a dick'." Fanny said, quoting Kuki. Valerie raised her eyebrows and just as Kuki was about to respond, Lizzie interrupted her,

"Long story short, Kuki gets butt-hurt over small things." She deadpanned. Kuki almost defended herself before she realized that it would be about as pointless as a circle. And it's not like anyone else would defend her either. Lizzie checked her phone and dramatically gasped, "I'm going to be late!"

"Where are you in such a hurry to?" Eva asked putting all of her belongings in her cheer bag, taking out her car keys.

"I've got a date. You guys know how this works, restating dominance and everything." She threw her backpack over her shoulders and waved, flashing her almost perfect teeth. "See you girlies bright and early tomorrow!" Kuki internally sighed, realizing that she was about to start her final year of high school.

One more year. Kuki told herself, Just one more year.

 _ **2:07 p.m**_

 _ **Kick-Ass Boxing**_

Wally wasn't sure what was worse, the burning in his muscles from beating the ever-loving shit out of the punching bag, or the same four-song playlist that the speakers had been playing for the past two hours he had been there. He was feeling especially aggressive that day, probably caused by a lot of things; school starting the next day (his last year of high school). The phone-call he received from someone at his first choice college ("Mr. Beatles, as much as we would like to have you playing soccer for us, the only way we can keep your scholarship in place is if you keep your GPA above a 3.0." (Which was bullshit by the way, since eligibility for high school was only a 2.2)). Or maybe Patton talking in a less than tasteful way about Kuki Sanban ("Dude, I could probably give myself better a blow job.") Regardless, he was seething and wasn't wearing boxing gloves, not even considering how awful his fists are going to feel in a couple of hours. That didn't stop him from continuing to slam his fists into the heavy bag, ignoring the sweat that was dripping everywhere. Despite the same four not-that-great-songs that were always playing, he did like this boxing place. At least it was better than the last one; it was way cheaper and there were very few middle-aged moms, after all, it was called Kick-Ass Boxing, his mom definitely wouldn't go there. "Hey, Beatles! There's a ringing that's been coming from your locker from for the past five minutes." The rather old man called out from his place at the desk.

"Thanks, Reggie, I'll be right there," Wally responded, drying his soaking wet hair with a towel. He gathered up his stuff from his station and then his locker, saying a goodbye to Reggie, he walked out into the beaming sunlight. He stepped into his orange Ford Mustang, the car he got for his seventeeth birthday, and blasted the AC. Before he pulled out of the parking lot, he checked his phone that had seven missed calls. Five from Patton, and one from each of the Doblemitz's. He almost ignored them until Patton called again, "What?" Wally answered.

"We're getting wings, meet us at B-Dubs." And then he hung up. Wally sighed and rolled his eyes. On one hand, he was really sweaty and really not in the mood to be around his friends. But on the other hand, barbeque wings sounded really good. So he half-heartedly weighed his options before flicking his turn signal on and pulling out of the parking lot, heading towards Buffalo Wild Wings.

"Beatles!" Wally saw his friends waving their hands from the booth where the four teenagers almost always sat. Maybe because they were there all of the time or maybe it was luck or the universe or something like that. "Oh my God, you're so sweaty," Patton said scooting over so that Wally could slide in.

"Yeah, mate, I was boxing," Wally responded, making both of the Doblemitz raise their bushy eyebrows.

"Didn't you have practice this morning?" Pete asked and Wally nodded in response. Peter shook his head,

"Dude, you can't run yourself ragged. You'll fuck your body up." Wally rolled his eyes, looking back and forth between the two. When he heard the story about both of them having sex with Eva, he genuinely wasn't shocked. Not because Eva was kind of a slut (even though that would usually be the reason), but because they're so much alike. They look the same, they talk the same, they play the same sports. It took Wally an embarrassing amount of time during freshman year, when the four of them became friends, to finally figure out how to differentiate them from each other.

"It's fine," Wally mumbled, looking up the waitress walking towards him, silently thanking her for interrupting the conversation before it went any further. She took their orders (Wally: barbeque wings, Patton: hot wings, Pete: mild wings, Peter: blazin' wings and fried pickles for all of them to share) and left them alone once again.

"Seriously man, you need to lay off. You look like shit." Peter scolded making Wally scoff and glare,

"What are you, a doctor?" He snarked back half-heartedly. He started laughing with Peter as he raised his eyebrow and posed,

"I am more than a pretty face, I'll have you know."

"Oh yeah, way more than just a pretty face," Patton laughed along sarcastically.

"Coming from you, Mr. 'Fugly and dumb as Hell' Drilovsky," Pete answered in defense of his brother (and himself, because once again, they are identical).

"I may be fugly and dumb, but at least I don't have a receding hairline," Patton responded running his fingers through his very thick mop of black hair. Wally slammed his hand on the table from laughing so hard, egging Patton on who was also hysterically laughing. The duo looked across the table towards the twins who were both glaring, which only made them laugh harder.

"Thank you, for pointing out what we already know." Peter rolled his eyes, trying his best to refrain from touching his, admittedly receding, dirty blond hair. Patton and Wally continued laughing up until their waitress brought them their fried pickles, then all of sudden they became too preoccupied stuffing their mouths to continue making fun of each other.

 _ **8:48 p.m**_

 _ **Lincoln Household**_

"Hey, kiddo," Cree knocked on Abby's door as she opened it and peaked her head through. Abby looked up from her laptop as her older sister walked in and shut the door behind her. Abby sat up and moved her MacBook off to the side when she saw what Cree had in her hands, "Dad made cookies."

"When isn't Dad making cookies?" Abby chuckled, making Cree smile. She sat down on the bed, placing the plate of cookies on the dark blue comforter. The older sister looked around at the composition and AP books seemingly everywhere and then back to her younger sister,

"You excited?"

"Excited for the school year? No. Excited to graduate? Yes."

"Come on, Crabigail, you should enjoy your last year. Have fun," She picked up the AP physics book and tossed it aside, making Abby cringe, "And please don't overwork yourself."

"I don't overwork myself. I can handle it."

"You said that last year too," Cree spoke softly, as to not cross any undrawn lines.

"It's fine. I'm fine." Abby mumbled, grabbing her laptop and going back to work, trying to ignore the look that her older sister was giving her. The 'you-know-I'm-right' look that Abby loved to give but hated to get.

"Seriously, Abby, please try to loosen up. High school's supposed to be the best years of your life, with the first kisses and the dances and the parties and the extracurriculars, aw you know what I mean." Abby rolled her eyes and looked over at Cree who was cracking up. There was nothing the college-student loved more than mocking their father. Cree gasped in realization, "Abby, oh my God you have to get drunk at a party. It's a right of passage!"

"Should you really be telling me, a seventeen-year-old, to get drunk? At a high school party?" She raised her eyebrows towards her older sister, who only shrugged,

"Well you can't get drunk alone. Alcoholics drink alone."

"This is probably the worst advice you have ever given me." Abby deadpanned, "And that's seriously saying something." Cree sighed and shook her head,

"You're so complicated. And you're going to regret not being more involved."

"Not involved? I've lettered in three sports. I'm senior class treasurer. I'm National Honors-"

"Society, yeah, yeah, blah, blah, blah." Cree interrupted, making Abby scoff under her breath. "Involved with the fun stuff. It's the three P's, Crabby. Parties, pranks, and prom."

"Sounds like a good way to get arrested." Abby mumbled, "All three of those."

"What do you plan on telling your kids?" Cree asked. "They're going to want to hear funny stories of when you were a kid. Playing basketball and being on the honor roll isn't exactly out-of-this-world."

"Why should I care about how boring my future kids think I am? They'll think I'm boring regardless."

"Whatever. I'm not arguing with you about how boring you are. Just remember that these are the best years of your life." Cree sing-songed as she stood up, grabbing one of the chocolate chip cookies from the paper plate. As she was walking out of her bedroom, Abby called,

"The only people that think that are the ones that peaked in high school!"

"Ha. Ha." Cree jerked her head around dramatically and glared, making Abby chuckle. Deep down, she knew that her sister was probably right (besides the 'best years of your life' part). Sure, playing volleyball and basketball with her friends was fun. And being on the honor roll and a part of National Honors Society and student council was important to her. But none of those things scream 'high school experience', at least not like playing beer pong in some rich kid's backyard does.

But of course, the people who throw those parties are the people that Abby actively tries to avoid. Except for maybe Nigel Uno, whenever he and Lizzie Devine get back together. Then again, when they are together, nobody really wants to be around either of them; together or separate. Abby then, decided that finishing her summer work was more important than worrying about her future kids and how they'll think she was a loser. And then she decided that maybe one party wouldn't be so bad.


	2. Football Friday Night

**A/N: It's me, ya boi, back with chapter two! I don't really have much to say other than I hope you enjoy!**

 **This is rated T for swearing and other teenage shenanigans and I obviously (and unfortunately) do not own Codename: Kids Next Door.**

* * *

 _ **Friday - 6:59 p.m**_

 _ **McKenzie Residence**_

"I hate high school. Seriously, Chad, these people are so stupid. I'm not sure who let Mrs. Gene teach AP physics when she literally has no idea what she's talking about. All she talks about is her husband and scuba diving. Good Lord, if I ever had to see that woman in a diving suit I would have to gouge my eyeballs out. And-"

"Rachel." The college boy interrupted. Standing at 6'2, he was almost pure muscle. He managed to get even more attractive after high school when the two began dating. Rachel was an innocent freshman and Chad was the 'lady killer' senior. Funnily enough, Rachel kept his attention long enough to date throughout his senior year. And then up to hers. "I adore you, but I _really_ don't want to think about Gene in a wetsuit." Rachel laughed as she laid back on her bed, facing Chad who was sitting on her desk chair, spinning back and forth.

"The first home game is tonight. Tommy Gilligan is rumored to be a starting wide receiver."

"Gilligan," He clucked his tongue and glanced back towards her, "That name sounds familiar. Isn't he in your class?"

"No, that's his brother. Tommy's a freshman." Rachel knew that Chad hated talking about everything high school related, with the exception of football. And it's not like the two had much else to talk about.

"A freshman? Starting receiver? Either he's pretty damn good or the Mustangs are gonna suck this season."

"From what I've heard, he's pretty good. And Beatles decided to double up; punt and play soccer." Chad smirked and shook his head, making Rachel raise her eyebrows.

"He just wanted the fame of playing football. Sure, he's a kicker, but it's better than just soccer." Rachel rolled her eyes. It's almost as if _every_ guy who plays football sees boys soccer as less. Rachel didn't really get it, especially since soccer is a worldwide sport and football is just American. She tries not to question it anymore, though- last time resulted in a dreadfully long lecture from Chad about why football is _significantly_ better than soccer (and any other sport, for that matter).

"Whatever you say, babe." She shrugged. He smiled and crawled onto the bed with her. As he cuddled up to her and began kissing her neck she groaned. Neither of them could tell if it was out of pleasure or annoyance. He ran a finger down her toned stomach all the way down to her upper thigh where he wrapped his hand around and squeezed.

"Damn girl, you been doing squats?" Rachel laughed and ran her fingers through his blond and product-filled hair.

"Mhm, and if you think my thighs got big, you should feel my butt." The look on Chad's face and in his bright blue eyes was enough to make Rachel laugh even harder. He went back down on her neck,

"Don't mind if I do." He reached around and grabbed her behind, which had admittedly gotten bigger. He chuckled, "Mm, you were right." He continued sucking on her neck and collarbone, Rachel's moans only encouraging him. He only moved when Rachel tugged at his tee shirt, pulling it over his head. Rachel rolled him over so that she was on top, sitting on his hips. She was trying her best to be sexy, even though she was really worried about a hickey showing up and she was really sore from practice.

Her insecurities faded when she felt something hard pushing against the small of her back. He ran his hand up her belly, taking her tee shirt off in the process, revealing her teal sports bra and full moon necklace that she almost never took off.

"God, you're beautiful." Funny how he almost only said that when she was missing clothes.

 ** _6:59 p.m_**

 ** _McClintock High - Mustang Stadium_**

"Is there a reason why I paid four dollars to watch Patton Drilovsky throw a football across a turf field that cost our school way too much money and is the reason that no other sports program can buy anything?"

"Because we're seniors and it's fun."

"We obviously have different ideas of fun," Muffy mumbled under her breath. The other teenager ignored her, turning around to face Abby with a large smile plastered on her face,

"You look hot."

"Actually, Abby's kind of cold," Abby responded, a small grin on her face as Muffy laughed. It was slightly chilly for the first football game of the season and they weren't even close to being dressed accordingly. But they were accordingly dressed for the theme: beach night. Tastefully covered up (kind of) with their unbuttoned Hawaiian shirts and bikini tops with daisy dukes.

"I hate you and your awful attitudes. When will Anna be here?" Angeline wondered as she looked out at the field. One of the perks of being a senior is having access to the bottom of the bleachers with a significantly better view of the game and significantly fewer lowerclassmen screaming behind them. The sun was right in their eyes, though, so all three of them were thankful for the sunglasses.

"Lookin' good ladies!" The three turned as the pretty, bespectacled blonde walked up the stairs and nudged her way between Angeline and Abby. Angeline raised her eyebrows as she glanced at her,

"You look… hot." She said, looking at the jeans and jacket that she was wearing. Sure, maybe the shorts and bikini tops weren't exactly enough to keep the other three warm but Anna was dressed as if it were late October.

"Literally. It's like seventy-five degrees." Muffy pointed out as Anna just shrugged.

"You guys know Jimmy. He doesn't like me dressing like a…" She hesitated as the three girls all simultaneously raised their eyebrows. "prostitute."

"Prostitute may be a bit dramatic," Abby mentioned although she regretted it. She wasn't looking to pick a fight, which was normally what happened whenever James 'Jimmy' Nixon McGarfield was brought into the conversation.

"Yeah, we're dressed for the theme, what's wrong with that?" Muffy wondered, her light eyebrows raised in questioning.

"Nothing! Like I said, you guys know Jimmy."

"Unfortunately," Muffy muttered just loud enough for Abby to hear. She puckered her lips in an attempt to try not to laugh and nodded her head. The four stared out at the turf field, looking at all of the boys in tight, red McClintock Mustang jerseys. The offensive line was gathered in a huddle, signaling that the home team would have possession first. "Is he coming?"

"Yeah, he got held up at work, but he should be here soon."

"Oh, good." Angeline smiled. Always the one to try and mediate arguments between Anna and Muffy (which almost always consisted of either Jimmy or politics), she tried to make everyone happy. It has proven to be difficult, but if the four could make it through freshman, sophomore, and junior year together, they could make it through senior year as well.

"Please rise and remove your hats for the National Anthem, performed by our own Marching 'Stangs!"

The McClintock marching band was notorious for being really, really bad. The brash sounds resembled Roseanne singing the Star Spangled Banner at the Padres game in the '90's. But yet, they were out there, the huge group of kids that (mostly) were picked on, performing for almost the entire town. The four girls stared at the field, filled with sweaty kids in wool uniforms, with raised eyebrows.

Finally, after what seemed like forever (because they accidentally repeated three verses) it was over and everyone (especially the band parents) was on their feet, dramatically clapping their hands together. "Jesus, I just realized we're gonna have to listen to them again at halftime," Muffy groaned, making the other three laugh. As if it was a cue, like they had a duty to lift Muffy Jenkins spirits, the cheerleaders ran out onto the track, pom poms in hand and big, fake smiles plastered on their seemingly flawless faces.

"I feel like the uniforms get more revealing every year." Anna observed, "But it's the same uniform? I don't understand."

"No dude, they just pick smaller sizes every year." Angeline said, "We're too poor to afford new uniforms anyway." They stared at the girls who were at the top of the totem pole; the high school food chain. Her dark eyes landed on one of the three redheads as she said, "You guys hear that Nigel and Lizzie are back together?"

" _Again_?" Muffy shook her head. "This has been going on for how many years? Six?"

"You guys don't get it; none of you have been in a committed relationship for longer than two months." Anna pointed out, making the three shrug their shoulders. "It takes sacrifice and dedication." Abby rolled her eyes and snorted.

"As if Lizzie could ever sacrifice something."

"Besides, we've all been in relationships. Abby dated that BFOS, and-" Angeline was interrupted by Muffy laughing,

"What the hell's a BFOS?"

"Boy from other school? Duh." She answered as Muffy shook her head, "And Muffy dated Lucas and I dated…" She trailed

"Ted," Muffy snickered, making Abby elbow her side.

"Hey!" Angie's face was turning red, "Everyone makes questionable decisions in middle school!"

"Exactly, except for Abby's BFOS, none of you guys have had a real high school relationship-"

"Oh my God, we get it. Do you want an award or something?" Muffy, always the hothead, snapped. Abby jerked her head over and shook it, mouthing ' _Don't'_. Muffy just sighed and turned her head back towards the field, where she had the pleasant view of the football players asses in tight red pants.

"Hey, girls," That deep southern drawl was enough to make Anna grin like an idiot and Muffy gag. He barely changed throughout their years in school together; still wore glasses and that stupid cowboy hat, still fat, still has a power complex and still unpleasant to be around. "Hey, baby," He wrapped his arms around Anna and kissed the top of her head. Abby looked at the couple, then both Angie and Muffy.

"I'm gonna go get something to drink, you guys want anything?" Anything to get out of that cramped space where Muffy was inevitably going to blow up, Angie was going to be stuck playing the role as the mediator, as always, Anna was going to cry, Jimmy was going to throw a fit and leave, forcing Anna to go with him.

* * *

"Oh my god, Francis Scott Key is rolling over in his grave right now," Bartie laughed, taking his hat off and shaking his sweaty head. It was too hot for those damn uniforms. "We butchered that."

"Made Fergie look good, that's for sure," Kade mentioned, making Hoagie laugh even harder than he already was. He knew that there was nothing funny about screwing up the Star Spangled Banner and embarrassing their school, but that didn't stop him from laughing so hard he was hunched over, feeling like he could vomit any second.

"Jesus, Hoagie, we've fucked up songs before, what is wrong with you?" Virginia asked, adjusting her grip on the saxophone. He was still doubled over,

"We suck! How the hell does a marching band screw up the National Anthem? How the hell does a 5'7 freshman start a varsity football game?" The four other seniors shared the same glance as Hoagie kept on his tangent, "Jesus Christ I'm gonna have to listen to him 'Ooo yeah, I play _varsity football_. Yeah, I'm friends with _Beatles and Drilovsky_. I'm gonna get _so_ much pussy!'" He sounded crazy, it sounded like Hoagie P. Gilligan had officially lost his marbles.

"So this isn't about the National Anthem? It's about Tommy?" Herbie wondered, taking a swig of water.

"Of course it's about Tommy!" Hoagie cried out, standing up. "God, this sucks. He's such a douchebag. He's been in high school for what? A week? He acts like he owns the damn place,"

"Jeez, Gilligan, chill out," Kade said, wiping the sweat off of his forehead. God, it was _so_ hot.

"Okay well, he's starting wide receiver, so, along with Drilovksy and Beatles, he basically does own the place. He's gonna be some freshman's nightmare," Bartie pointed out. "Besides, he's been a huge dick ever since his nuts dropped."

"Exactly, why are you so worked up about it now?" Virginia asked, watching Hoagie pace back and forth. Herbie looked up from over his glasses and muttered under his breath,

"Because he has a superiority complex,"

"I don't have a superiority complex!" Hoagie defended himself and began to pace. "I'm gonna have a heat stroke." He tried to wipe the sweat off of his forehead with the back of his hand, which didn't work at all.

"Hear me out: you want to be better than Tommy because you're his older brother. And now you feel threatened by him because he hangs around the guys that used to beat us up." Herbie stood back up and cracked his knuckles as Hoagie cranked his head towards him and glared,

"Shut up. That's not why." Hoagie said, still pacing. The other four shared the same raised eyebrow look that said ' _Yeah, okay_ '. Their band director walked over, looking obviously flustered and very angry.

"I know that the five of you are seniors and couldn't really care less about the fact that we just destroyed the Star Spangled Banner, but could you _please_ get up on the bleachers and play our football setlist. And Bartie- put your hat back on." He began to walk away before Bartie called after him,

"Hey, Davis!" He turned back around and glared when Bartie began to snicker, "I think next practice we should work on the National Anthem." The five teenagers could see his jaw clench,

"Just play your instruments!" He demanded and then stopped away, making the five laugh. Hoagie stuck his fist out, which Bartie pounded with his own. Not because Bartie being annoying was funny, but because Bartie annoying their balding band-director to the point of combustion _was_.

 ** _10:07 p.m_**

 ** _Fulbright Residence_**

The music was bumping, there were bottles of alcohol everywhere and the party was in full swing. Fanny was trying not to think about how much trouble she would be in if her parents found out and tried to loosen up and have a good time. But that was hard when she saw the Doblemitz twins tossing an entire glass bottle of vodka back and forth to each other and she couldn't find the only reason she volunteered to have the party at her house in the first place. "Fanny! Hey!" She turned around and smiled at the tall boy who was waving his hand around, trying to get her attention. She walked towards him, trying her best to be sexy despite her feeling her uncomfortably short shorts ride up her butt.

"Hey, you played a great game," She playfully punched his arm, the arm that threw the winning touchdown to freshman, Tommy Gilligan. He smirked, running his fingers through his perfectly gelled hair,

"Eh, it's nothin'." He shrugged, making Fanny internally roll her eyes. Patton Drilovsky humble? Yeah right, not in this dimension. Especially not after winning a football game.

"With that arm, you'll knock Chad Dickson off the record board," She kept flirting. She knew Patton, and any girl that would unashamedly tell him how great he was would definitely get some. And that's exactly what the redhead was looking for.

From across the room, Kuki could feel herself glaring. Not even a week ago she told her friends in the locker room what Patton did, and yet Fanny was over there, obviously trying to get with him. Seeing her fellow cheerleader over in the corner only confirmed her suspicions. Now Kuki _knew_ that she and Patton had (and still have) a thing. She rolled her eyes and took another drink from her red solo cup. She wasn't really sure what was in it, Eva made it for her, but it tasted like cherries.

She kept her eyes on the couple as she leaned on the counter. Fanny quickly glanced over her shoulder and Kuki averted her eyes so that she wouldn't see her watching. Kuki couldn't decide if she was jealous of Fanny or just pissed off that she would turn on her like that. What happened to girl code? Honestly, Kuki felt more and more inclined to drop the cheerleaders completely and become friends with Rachel, because even without context, she was sure that whatever falling out happened was Fanny's fault. And her letting Patton lead her upstairs to her bedroom was proof enough.

"Hey, Kuki." She jumped when she heard the voice beside her, almost spilling her drink. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." She turned and smiled; Nigel was probably the only person at this party who wasn't a conceited asshole.

"No, I was just distracted. What're you doing here? Where's Lizzie?" She wondered, looking around, not seeing the redhead anywhere.

"Lizzie wanted to come and 'show me off' or something obscene like that. I think she had a few too many and is destroying the Fulbright's bathroom." Kuki looked at him, and he guiltily rubbed the back of his neck, "I tried to get in there, but she just yelled at me,"

"Lizzie is a mean drunk, that's for sure." Kuki nodded, swirling what little alcohol she had left in her cup. She didn't want to overdo it, she wasn't a mean drunk, like Lizzie; but a hysterical cryer instead. She figured it was probably a little too early in the school year to make a fool of herself. Nigel chuckled,

"That she is." He took the last swig of his drink and pulled out his phone, "Oh, I've got to get home." He looked at Kuki with a look that made her really jealous of Lizzie. He looked like he felt guilty for leaving his drunk girlfriend, even when she was perfectly safe at her best friend's house. "Will she be okay here?"

"She'll be fine, Nigel. I'll look after her." He nodded his thanks and headed towards the door. She was tempted to leave as well, but she already told her parents she was sleeping over at Fanny's and they would be suspicious if she came home. That, and she knew that she and her five friends would be stuck cleaning all day tomorrow so that Mr. Fulbright would come home to a spotless house. The thought of being stuck with hungover Lizzie, Eva, Fanny, Valerie, and Henrietta was almost enough for her to get blackout drunk.

 ** _10:31 p.m_**

 ** _Mel's Diner_**

"Bartie, we have to be careful," Virginia said, looking around nervously. The diner was almost empty with the exception of a few truck drivers and waitresses, but that didn't stop her from staring out the window like she was expecting the paparazzi or something.

"Gin, no one is here. Besides, if anyone sees us they either won't care or just think it's two good friends hanging out without their normal crew. There's nothing to freak out about."

"But what if-" The dark haired girl began again,

"The only people who actually care are at home. You know Herbie's mom, 'Herbert, if you're not home by 9:45, blah, blah, blah'. Kade is probably masturbating to something gross and Hoagie is too pissed off about Tommy to worry about anything else. We're in a shitty diner, eating shitty cheeseburgers while drinking surprisingly not that shitty milkshakes at ten thirty. Take a chill pill." Bartie finished, pulling his strawberry milkshake closer to him and taking a long sip. "Seriously, though, these milkshakes are pretty good."

"Well, we drove forty minutes for them."

"No, we drove forty minutes because you're paranoid."

"I just don't want things to be weird!" Virginia said. "And they will be. That's what happens when you're the only girl in a group of four guys and then you start dating one of the said guys."

"Hey, you haven't always been the only girl," Bartie said, taking a bite of his french fry. "Remember Kimberly?"

"Yes, I remember Kim. And she only hung out with us because she had a crush on Hoagie." Virginia responded. "I started hanging out with you idiots because I thought you guys were cool, Kim only wanted dick from one."

"Well, she got it. And then she graduated. That's gonna be us in a couple months," Bartie glanced over towards the bright neon sign. The contrast against the dark night sky almost hurt his eyes.

"I just- I just don't want our friendships to fall apart because of us dating,"

"I can't believe you're scared to tell them. You have like a billion tattoos and piercings, but you won't tell a bunch of losers that we're dating?" He had a teasing smirk on his face as she rolled her dark eyes,

"I have two tattoos," She pointed at the semicolon behind her ear and the rose on her thigh, "And three piercings," She then pointed towards her right eyebrow, left nostril and belly button,

"No, you have way more than that," He leaned over and tugged on her ear. She rolled her eyes and laughed,

"Ears don't count," she said. As silence fell between the two and they continued eating Bartie looked at her. She really was the prettiest girl, to him, in the whole wide world. Even when she wears dark eyeliner and chokers and keeps getting her face pierced. Hell, especially when she does those things because they make Virginia, Virginia. "Dude, stop staring,"

"You're just really pretty," He said. She scoffed and rolled her eyes, despite the small blush arising on her face,

"You telling me that I'm pretty won't get me to want to tell anyone any sooner," She laughed. And then a grim look appeared on her face. "You know I hate change and this- this is a big fucking change."

"Dude, I know that you're scared of things changing, but I've got some news for ya: in eight months we'll be done with high school _forever._ Might as well embrace the change now." He reached across the table and grabbed her hand.

"But…" She sighed and gripped his hand slightly tighter, "It's so scary. We can vote next presidential election. Buy a gun. Which I would never do by the way because this gun violence thing is getting-"

"Virginia. No. I know. Now isn't the time for a gun control speech." He said. She shook her head and let out a deep breath,

"It just... sucks. Growing up sucks,"

* * *

 **A/N: I genuinely planned on publishing this chapter a couple weeks ago, but when push comes to shove, I'm just really lazy. But I would like to thank everyone who reviewed, I absolutely adore reading what you guys think. I hope you enjoyed this chapter (don't forget to review!) and hopefully, next chapter comes out a little quicker :)**

 **\- Maddie**


	3. Can't Find a Better Man

**A/N: Hey guys, I'm absolutely exhausted but super excited because lately, the universe seems to be on my side. So I figured while I'm still on this high, I'm going post another chapter! Also, this one is a little shorter, but things will start to pick up soon, I promise. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 ** _Tuesday - 7:08 a.m_**

 ** _Devine Residence_**

Being late always made Nigel uncomfortable, as if he were disrespecting authority. Lizzie, on the other hand, couldn't care less. It was just his luck that Lizzie's beat to hell because she can't back up without hitting something, Volkswagen Bug broke down, leaving him to drive her to school. Even if it meant being late. The nearly bald teenager tapped his fingers against the steering wheel along to the radio, waiting for her to come outside. After seemingly forever of tapping and staring at the clock radio, anxiously waiting, Nigel saw the front door open and his girlfriend emerge.

"Morning, Nigie," The redhead slid into the red Audi, leaning over to kiss his cheek, trying to ignore the fact that he was very quickly putting the car into drive and speeding out of the neighborhood. She immediately began messing with the radio, switching from classic rock to pop.

"Good morning," He responded as he flicked on the turn signal.

"Somebody's grumpy." She murmured, making Nigel bite down and slowly grind his teeth. He wanted so badly to tell her that he's grumpy because _she_ can _never_ be ready on time. He knew better than to start an argument, knowing that it's not really worth it anyway. "I brought you a coffee; extra dark, just how you like it," She grinned, placing the mug in the cupholder. He took his eyes off of the road for a second and offered his girlfriend a small smile,

"Thanks, Liz," He was counting his lucky stars that it was coffee she made him and not breakfast; the last time he ate her cooking he threw up almost immediately. Lizzie just blamed it on the stomach flu (which was impossible because he had strep throat). He was also thankful that he liked his coffee very simple. After all, it was hard to mess up straight black coffee.

"Yeah, I'm the best and you're the luckiest guy at McClintock High," She grinned and Nigel turned to face her again,

"And you have lipstick on your teeth," He pointed out, causing her to yank down the sun visor and look in the mirror. Vigorously rubbing her teeth with her index finger she shook her head,

"That would've been so embarrassing." She flipped the visor back up and glanced back over at him. A small grin crossed his pale face as he pulled into a parking spot (that was not his normal spot due to being so late). He put the car in park and looked over at her,

"Guess we're both lucky then, huh?" Lizzie smiled and giggled before kissing him,

"Yeah, I guess you're right," The two got out of the car, grabbed their bags and walked into the school hand-in-hand, two minutes before the bell rang for first period. "Hey, Fanny are you feeling any better?" Lizzie asked as she walked into her circle of cheerleaders and jocks.

"Of course not, but since my mom found out about the party, she made me go to school. I'm sick! I could die!" Nigel quietly kissed Lizzie's cheek as Fanny went on about how the _stupid Doblemitz twins just HAD to spill beer on the stupid rug!_ He saw Kuki ever-so-slightly roll her eyes and offered her a small smile.

Walking into first period just as the bell rang, he took a seat in his unassigned assigned seat strategically across the room from Rachel; if he didn't see her, he didn't have to think about her. Not a single student in the classroom was talking, it was like being in a room with zombies. "Woah kids, quiet down." Ms. Lane walked in and laughed at her own joke, as teachers do.

 ** _11:06 a.m_**

 ** _McClintock High - Cafeteria_**

"Okay I know that we're all for girl power and 'we don't need no mans' but I really want a boyfriend," Angeline said, resting her head on her fist. Muffy scrunched her eyebrows together and stuck her tongue in her cheek,

"Do you want a boyfriend because you're lonely and like attention or do you actually want to commit to a relationship?" She asked. Angie shrugged and pushed her rice around with her fork.

"I feel like I'm just lonely." She said. "Like I want a boyfriend to like buy me dinner and hold my hand and play with my hair and stuff." Muffy raised her eyebrow,

"But like? What about sex?" She asked, stabbing a piece of lettuce.

"Muffy. Not everything is about sex." She responded, shaking her head. "You're literally a virgin."

"Hey, a girl can dream, right." She shrugged, making Abby shake her head.

"Why are you two so desperate? High school boys are stupid." She said, pushing her lunch around. For some reason, she didn't have much of an appetite. "Have you seen Anna and Jimmy? Do you really want that?" She mumbled so that no one else would hear her.

"No, Abby, I don't want that. I want a healthy relationship with a good democrat." Angeline responded. Making Muffy nod and agree. Abby rolled her eyes. She genuinely didn't understand the appeal of dating in high school. Boys are so immature and more often than not, they're huge dicks.

"You know what's gonna happen?" Muffy wondered, taking a bite of her salad that was drenched in Italian dressing. "Abby's going to marry her high school sweetheart."

"I don't have a high school sweetheart, fool."

"It's the beginning of September, we have the entire school year." Angie nudged her arm with a smile, once again, going along with whatever stupid conspiracy like thing Muffy comes up with. Last week it was something about how large chain grocery stores 'run out' of brand name items so people are forced to buy their 'shitty' off-brand products. Though Abby did have to admit, Muffy actually had a decent argument for that one. "A lot of things can happen within a couple of months." She grinned, making Abby roll her eyes.

"Nuh-uh- ain't gonna happen."

"Maybe you'll end up pregnant and married at eighteen." Muffy continued, looking at her with her head cocked to the side. Abby glared as Angeline laughed,

"Definitely not."

"Hey, you never know. Like maybe Jimmy will finally lay off the whole 'I'm saving myself for marriage' bullshit and get Anna pregnant." Muffy shrugged, pulling a piece of red onion out of her salad and putting it on her napkin. Abby looked around and then threw a balled-up napkin across the table at her. "What?"

"Don't say things like that!" Abby said, Muffy raised her eyebrows in question, "Because then it _will_ happen!" Abby answered, making Muffy laugh and shrug.

"Come on, we all know he's not giving up the marriage thing." She said. Angie shook her head and rolled her dark eyes,

"I don't really understand, like she gives him blow jobs? And he like has like, you know." She began, not wanting to say it out loud. Abby nodded her head and Muffy started flicking her tongue like a dog lapping up a puddle. "Ew, Muffy, I didn't say it for a reason."

"Whatever." She shrugged and shoved more lettuce into her mouth. "But, Abby, when you do get a boyfriend in these next few months, I have a few requests."

"Oh! Me too!" Angie said, making Abby shake her head,

"Oh my God, no, you guys can't 'make requests' for my non-existent boyfriend."

"Yes, we can. And you're wrong; he exists. He's probably in this cafeteria right at this very moment." Muffy said, looking around, "Maybe he's a freshman." She joked, cracking a smile, making Abby glare.

"Anyway, can he be good at physics? Because I can already tell that I'm going to _struggle_." Angie asked. And then added, "Someone with half a brain and decent beliefs would be cool too."

"And a hot brother. And rich. And looks old enough to buy alcohol without getting IDed." Muffy added to Angie's list, "And a good sense of humor so that someone around here will finally realize how fucking funny I am."

"Pretty sure I'm the one who's supposed to pick out _my_ boyfriend," Abby mentioned.

"No. We let Anna do that and things are bad. So we're in charge here." Angie said, almost joking. "We're not going to push anything on you. The universe will do its thing and we'll be right, like always, and at your wedding, Muffy will get sloppy drunk and tell everyone about it."

"Wow, can't wait," Abby said sarcastically, making the other two girls burst out laughing.

 ** _6:07 p.m_**

 ** _Beatles Residence_**

"Wallabee!" The blond boy stared at the homework in front of him. And stared. And stared. _Read and analyze the poem below. Be prepared to talk about it in class tomorrow._ He kept rereading the poem over and over again. But he still couldn't figure out what it meant. Was it about love? Or finding someone? Or something? "Wallabee! Dinner!" He ground his teeth together and kept staring at the poem. He didn't have time to eat. He had to finish this, and then his calculus homework and then physics and anatomy. He wanted to kick his _own_ ass for taking almost all AP and/or college classes. He felt like such a nerd. And then when the nerdiness wore off, he felt like an idiot. Everyone in those classes were geniuses. They were so smart and powerful it was intimidating. Hoagie Gilligan, Rachel McKenzie, and Herbert Bowles were the worst. Abby Lincoln and Nigel Uno weren't as bad, mostly because he knew Abby was cool and whenever Nigel and Lizzie were together, Nigel would always help Wally with homework whenever he asked.

He knew that getting A's and high B's in these classes would be his only shot at getting into a good college. After fucking around his freshman and most of sophomore year, he realized that he was screwed if he didn't raise his GPA, so he set to work. He learned that, surprisingly, if you put a little effort into things, school isn't so hard. At least math and science aren't. English; not so much. "Dinner's ready." Wally jerked his head over to his bedroom door that Joey opened. He casually leaned against the door frame, hands shoved into his pocket, smacking on bubble gum.

"I know, Joey. You think I can't hear Mom's banshee voice? I'll be down when I'm done." He barked making Joey roll his eyes.

"Whatever." He walked away, leaving the door open, mumbling something about stupid teenagers and their stupid hormones. Wally went to yell at him to shut the door, but it wasn't worth it. He put his head and his hands and ran his hands through his hair a little too vigorously. "You're gonna go bald if you keep doing that," Joey called as he walked past his older brothers room once again.

"Brat," He mumbled under his breath still staring at the poem. He figured that if he stared for long enough, the answer would just come to him. He slammed his head against the desk as soon as he heard his mother again.

"WALLABEE! Get down here and eat dinner!"

"I'm coming!" He groaned. He pushed his chair back and glanced at the poem one last time. When nothing came to him he decided to say ' _fuck it_ ' and ask Nigel about it tomorrow before class started. It's just a stupid poem anyway, why is _analyzing the meaning_ so important? Clomping down the stairs, he was mentally preparing himself. ' _Hey sport, how was school?_ ' ' _Are you doing okay so far this year? I know senior year can be very stressful?_ ' ' _How was practice? You Mustangs are lookin' pretty good this year_ '. Sitting down at the table, his mom handed both him and Joey a plate.

Dinner continued, exactly as he expected it to. Stupid questions about him and his life and his grades and soccer and football. He answered all of them with either 'yes', 'no', or some kind of weird grunt. Soon, enough, his parents got annoyed with Wally and his short answers and moved onto Joey; who did the exact same thing.

The four of them fell into silence. The only noises came from the TV that was still on in the living room and the scratching of silverware against the plates. "Oh, Joey. Your soccer coach called today. He has to resign because of some sort of accident that happened." Mrs. Beatles said, making Joey's jaw drop with disappointment.

"What?"

"Sorry, kiddo. Without a coach, there can't be a team."

"That's no fair! I've been looking forward to playing soccer _all year_!" He whined, putting his fork down and staring at his mom. She sighed and looked at her little boy,

"I know. I really am sorry. But your Dad already has two jobs and I just went back to work." The blonde woman explained while continuing to cut a pork chop. Wally looked up at his little brother who looked like he was near tears he was so devastated. Normally, he would be inclined to make fun of him, but for some reason, he felt bad.

"I could do it." The seventeen-year-old said it before he had a chance to stop himself. Wally's eyes went wide _Shit, shit shit._ Joey looked at his older brother and subtly shook his head and made a cutthroat motion.

"Oh Wally, that would be great! And a great thing to put on college applications!"

College applications. _Screw Joey_. "Yeah, I'll definitely do it." He said once again making the ten-year-old glare and shoot him dirty looks. Wally ignored it as his parents praised him. Wally retreating back up to his room and his parents going to call all of the soccer moms left Joey alone at the kitchen table. "Please, no one ask what _I_ think about this." He muttered sarcastically, getting up and walking back upstairs, smacking on a new piece gum and grumbling under his breath.

* * *

 **A/N: As always, I hope you enjoyed. I just want to genuinely thank everyone who has reviewed Most Likely to Succeed, literally, nothing brings me more joy than getting an email saying that someone followed, favorited or reviewed this. I'm working really hard on it, and it's something that I'm proud of and something that I'm having fun writing, so I'm ecstatic that you seem to be enjoying it too. I've got big plans ahead for this fic and I hope I can count on you guys being along for the ride :)**

 **-Maddie**


	4. Walking on Sunshine

**A/N: Wow, guys, it's been awhile. School and golf have been keeping me super busy and I just haven't had any time to write or edit anything- but since I have a long weekend I decided I would fight through the tiredness and get this chapter out.**

* * *

 _ **Thursday** **\- 6:52 a.m**_

 _ **Lincoln Residence**_

Looking at the time, Abby grimaced and continued scrubbing her teeth. Waking up forty minutes late didn't give her enough time to shower or do her makeup, which resulted in her looking slightly homeless. She tried not to stare at the bags that were surely forming under her eyes. Five hours of school, two hours of homework, two hours of volleyball practice, and then working for five more hours at the local candy shop was taking almost everything out of her. She sighed and spit. She heard her cell phone buzz and read it as she put on her sweats.

 **Muffy:** _pls tell me u haven't left the house yet and can u grab me an extra pair of spandex_

Abby grabbed her phone and left the bathroom, heading back to her room to grab a pair of shorts for the girl that can never remember anything, even if her life depends on it. (Which, this sort of did. Coach told her that if she forgot shorts one more time, that she would make the whole team run until they all puke.) She shoved them into her bookbag and hurried downstairs. "Lookin' comfy," Cree said from the kitchen table, drinking orange juice. Abby ignored her and grabbed the last piece of toast and her car keys.

"Shouldn't you be in class or somethin'?" She asked before walking out the front door. Cree looked at her and shrugged.

"Free food, lil sis." She responded, making Abby roll her eyes and exit the house.

Shoving the last piece of toast in her mouth and texting Muffy back, telling her that she got a pair, Abby shoved the keys into the ignition of her Chevy Cruze and pulled out of her driveway, praying that her spot wasn't taken by some stupid sophomore that just got their license. She turned the radio up to try and distract her from her road rage that was steadily increasing by the second. Morning traffic was always ridiculous because parents dropping their freshmen (and some sophomores) off couldn't follow the traffic rules.

She continued to screw around with the radio, trying not to stare at the clock and get anxious at the time. She looked up and saw that she was still at least five cars behind the stop sign and sighed. She felt her phone begin to vibrate and play _Walking On Sunshine_ meaning that it was Muffy calling her. Ironically, the Katrina & The Waves song has been her favorite since freshman year, despite Muffy being the pessimist that she is. "What?" Abby answered.

" _Somebody's having a good morning."_ Abby rolled her eyes. The last thing Muffy should be doing is giving Abby sarcasm when she saved her ass this morning by actually answering her texts for once.

"What?" Abby repeated, quite exasperatedly.

" _I just wanted to let you know that somebody took your spot,"_ She said, making Abby swear under her breath. " _But I'm standing in a spot, saving it for you."_ Abby laughed, despite being in a foul mood.

"You what?"

" _I think I'm in Bartie's spot, but I'm not really sure. Hoagie and his shitty Subaru are beside me so I'm just going to assume it's Bartie's."_ Muffy explained, making Abby picture her standing in a parking spot so that she would have a parking spot. She shook her head and smiled.

"Abby'll be there in like three minutes." She said and then hung up. Finally pulling onto McClintock Road traffic began to flow and she was able to make it into the parking lot where she saw Muffy, quite literally, standing in a spot, blocking people from pulling into it. When the brunette saw Abby's navy blue car she quickly stepped off to the side, letting her park. Muffy opened the passenger door and leaned in,

"Yo, can I copy your anatomy homework?" She asked. Abby nodded and said,

"It's in the blue folder."

"Light or dark?"

"Light." Abby answered, and as Muffy went to shut the door Abby called out, "Hey, spandex." She handed Muffy the pair of patterned shorts and smiled,

"Thanks, see ya in third." She said, shutting the door and hurrying into the building. She thought it was sort of weird, Muffy hurrying off when there were still six minutes left until the first bell. But she shrugged it off, Muffy was always doing weird things anyway. After listening to the rest of the Nelly song, Abby decided it was time to go inside and face another day in paradise.

Getting out of the car, she grabbed her back and tapped the lock button on the key fob, causing it to beep. She saw Hoagie's unruly head of hair pop out of the Subaru and she heard him swear under his breath. When his full body was finally in sight, Abby saw that he had a drink carrier with what looked like four cups of coffee in one hand and his keys in the other. He looked up at her and she offered a small smile. The two weren't necessarily friends but they weren't strangers either. Abby would personally consider it a close acquaintanceship. But sometimes when she would look at him she would feel a sort of nostalgic pain in her chest, as if they were childhood best buds.

"Hey, Abby, do you like caramel iced lattes?" He asked, making her raise her eyebrows and shrug. _Hell yeah, Abby likes caramel iced lattes. Especially when I didn't sleep last night._

"I guess. Why?"

"Bartie told me to get him one this morning but then texted me ten minutes later, saying 'nevermind, I'm skipping first'." Hoagie looked more than a little annoyed, as he looked back over at Abby he took the drink out of the carrier, along with the straw, "Here, take it. None of us will drink it." He offered. When he said 'us', Abby assumed he meant Herbie, Kade, Virginia, and himself. She looked at him with raised eyebrows as to ask ' _are you sure?_ ' He nodded and handed her the drink.

"I can pay you," She said, but he just shook his head, making his curly auburn colored hair flop. It looked like he was in dire need of a haircut.

"Bartie asked for it, Bartie's going to pay for it." He responded. The two began to walk towards the building and Hoagie chuckled. "Man, I thought Virginia was crazy. Muffy was out there defending that parking spot with her _life_. She's crazy." He said, making Abby laugh,

"Oh yeah, she only did that because she needed shorts and anatomy homework." She answered. Which was true, Muffy may be crazy, but she wouldn't have defended a parking spot like that for so long unless she truly needed something; which she did. As they approached the door, Hoagie and his long legs beat Abby to the door, holding it open for her, despite his hands being practically full. He and Abby both spotted their respective friend group and began walking towards them. Hoagie looked to Abby as she was at her stop and smiled. Her heart fluttered a little bit when she saw the dimples in his chubby cheeks.

"See you in first," He waved as Abby grinned in return. And as he walked away, she couldn't help regretting not wearing jeans and putting on some makeup that morning. But the smile that he gave her as he waved and walked away made her feel like she really was walking on sunshine.

 _ **11:17 a.m**_

 _ **McClintock High - Cafeteria**_

Sitting around the octagon shaped table, were the jocks of McClintock, all wearing various letterman jackets and eating a pizza from Domino's, the only place that would deliver to the school. "So you're telling me that you _volunteered_ to coach fifteen _ten-year-olds_?" Seth asked, his mouth full of pepperoni pizza. He never had been one to use proper manners.

"I get paid to do it. And it's just soccer; I know that sport inside and out. Coaching it shouldn't be _that_ hard." Wally shrugged, trying to convince himself more than his friends.

"Being around a group of brats for two hours every day?" Peter asked incredulously. "Do you know yourself?"

"Actually it's Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays," Wally mentioned, bringing on his next point. "I could _really_ use an assistant coach." He looked specifically at Seth, the only other person in their group of friends that played soccer. Hell, he was the only one who even knew how soccer worked besides Wally.

"Yeah, I have other things to be doing, if you know what I mean," He looked over at the cheerleaders' table. Henrietta's long blonde hair was curled and she was wearing jeans that fit _just_ right and a top that was just a _little_ too short, teasing Seth with her belly button ring. Wally rolled his eyes, his friends were such pigs.

"It's three days a week. Like a total of-" He paused to count on his fingers, "Six hours. So we'll still have time to go to practice and do homework and you'll still have time to fuck around with Henrietta." Seth shook his head,

"Sorry man; not worth wasting my time for a couple college applications." He responded, making Wally groan. "Besides, you wouldn't split the money with me." Of course, he wouldn't split the money with him. He wouldn't do anything to deserve the money. Wally just hoped someone would coach with him so it wouldn't be just him and fifteen ten-year-olds.

"Whatever." Wally mumbled. He looked over at Patton who was staring at, what looked like, Fanny Fulbright eating her lunch. He raised his eyebrows and nudged the boy's side, making him jerk his head over,

"What?"

"What're you looking at?" Patton rolled his eyes and nodded his head towards the only male sitting at the cheerleader table. Nigel Uno. Surrounded by less than enjoyable company, he was sitting next to his girlfriend who was vibrantly telling a story. "I feel sort of bad, him sitting there by himself."

"Lizzie would never let him sit with us." Pete laughed, "We're bad influences. She doesn't need her _Nigie_ getting any ideas into his big bald head." His twin brother rolled his eyes.

"Still; he looks so pathetic over there." He really did. His head was propped up on his fist and he was half-heartedly picking at his lunch. His glasses were slowly slipping down his nose and it looked like he was about to fall asleep.

"And you're right," Patton laughed, pointing his slice of pizza at Pete, "He _does_ have a big head."

As the bell was getting ready to ring, signaling the end of lunch and the beginning of fifth period, Patton stood up and threw his bag over his shoulder. His dark eyes darted back to the cheerleaders, and more specifically, the redheaded Fanny Fulbright. He felt a small smile cross his face as she saw her and her friends approaching him. He followed behind them until they each began dispersing, going to their own classes, soon leaving only him and the redhead. "Hey," Patton wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer. Fanny looked up at him and then pushed him away,

"What're you doing?" She asked, glaring at him. He wasn't sure why she was all of sudden so opposed to him touching her, but he backed off and answered,

"Walking you to class?"

"No, we can't be all lovey-dovey at school; especially not with Kuki or Lizzie or anyone else around." She muttered, making him raise his eyebrows. He didn't realize that whatever they had going on was something that had to be kept quiet.

"We did it at your party," He responded. Fanny rolled her eyes and threw her hands in the air, obviously frustrated because even after almost four years, he still didn't understand the politics of high school. One can't be seen alone with a guy that used to date one of your friends.

"Everyone was drunk." She said, then whispered, "And we were in my bedroom." A smirk arose on Patton's face. _Hell yeah, we were in your bedroom._ He thought proudly to himself. "Just," Fanny sighed and began to head to her class; "Not here, okay?"

 _ **4:01 p.m**_

 _ **McClintock High - Mustang Stadium**_

"Okay kids, due to the rain making the cross country course disgusting, we're practicing on the track today." The groan erupting from most of the athletes made Rachel roll her eyes. She couldn't see why people would rather run on the cross country course when it's always muddy and gross. "Yeah, yeah, go do two warm-up laps and then stretch on the field." Rachel was much happier this year than years past; at least when it came to cross country. It used to be girls JV and varsity practicing together, while the boys would do the same. But that was just inconvenient because she was already the fastest girl and she didn't have anyone to compete with. But when Roth decided to change it up and have the two varsity teams practice together, everything changed.

Her and Nigel Uno had been competing for fastest at McClintock (and in the district, for that matter) since they were fifteen. Having him there at practice with her made Rachel want to go even harder because there wasn't anything she wanted more than to beat him and be, not only the fastest girl, but the fastest person in the school. Two weeks after their argument, neither of them were over it. Therefore, Rachel threw all hesitations out the window, no longer caring what would happen to whatever friendship they had when one of them beat the other. She pushed herself further than she had ever before. Running in the morning before school, running right after school and then at practice. Harvey even told her that she runs in her sleep.

Sitting down with her legs spread, she reached for her right foot, pulling it towards her, groaning at how good it felt to finally be able to stretch out after a long day. The blonde looked over at the freshman who was sitting down beside of her; Sonya reminded Rachel of herself when she was a freshman. Seemingly not too many friends. Rachel almost laughed out loud and then thought to herself, _some things never change._ "Hey, Sonya," She tried to offer a friendly smile. Sonya seemed caught off guard that an upperclassman was talking to her; and even more, knew her name.

"Hey, Rachel." She grinned back. The two continued their awkward small-talk when Roth interrupted them and began to talk,

"Okay, with our first meet coming up we managed to get some pretty cool tee-shirts for you guys to wear at school the day before. And don't forget, the first meet is the twenty-third of September." A week and a few days from now, but Rachel was more prepared than ever. This was going to be her season, and no one (especially Nigel) was going to take it from her.

The two teams finished stretching and started doing whole football field suicides. Five in and Rachel was slowly starting to understand they were called suicides. Nonetheless, she kept sprinting, her and Nigel staying neck and neck the entire time. As she began to slow her pace just slightly so she could endure, there was a God-awful scream coming from the other side of the field. She jerked her head to the right and saw Nigel laying on the ground, his knee pulled tightly to his chest. Immediately forgetting about their fight and throwing all inhibitions out the window, she sprinted (faster than she had run all practice) across the field, while everyone else, who were probably silently thanking God for a reason to stop, paused and looked over. Upon getting closer, it was definitely the knee. He had weak knees. She always told him to wear his stupid knee braces. She could hear him swearing as he was also struggling to catch his breath. Rachel collapsed beside of him, "Okay, it'll be okay," She murmured, almost expecting him to yell at her.

Instead, he let go of his knee with his left hand and reached for hers. She gripped his hand, trying to ignore how hard he was squeezing. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I'm going to die, aren't I? Fuck." He continued to mumble. Rachel couldn't help letting out a small chuckle,

"Yes, you're going to die, but not from this. It's just your knee; you'll be okay-" She looked up at their overweight, middle-aged coach who finally made it to the scene. Rachel mouthed something to him and he was off towards the building. "Roth is going to get the trainer." She said, trying to comfort him. She really didn't know what to do; she had never seen Nigel react like that to anything, so he was clearly in a great deal of pain. She kept her grip on his hand as he kept trying to catch his breath.

"Fuck-" He squinted his eyes shut. Rachel saw a few tears make their way down his cheeks and felt her chest seize. She hated seeing him in so much pain, but mostly she hated herself for realizing that now with Nigel out, the season really was hers. "I'm sorry." He groaned, "I've been a huge dick-" Rachel interrupted him, not wanting him to continue. His pain-fueled adrenaline speech would've just made her feel worse.

"Don't do that right now," She said, putting her other hand over his, hoping she was doing _something_ right. She had never had an injury like this, she had absolutely no idea how he was feeling. She tried to think of something, _anything_ that would distract him. The trainer, today it was Jesse, came over and gently pulled Nigel's knee away from the death grip that the brown-haired boy had on it with his other arm. Nigel groaned and gripped Rachel's hand even tighter (which seemed impossible), making Rachel grind her teeth together. Jesse started inspecting and then started talking, but all Rachel heard was 'ACL' 'tear' 'surgery'. Which just confirmed that he would be out for the season and maybe forever.

The ambulance came and took Nigel away after pumping what seemed like tons of morphine into him. "Are you sure you don't want me to go?" Rachel was hesitant to leave him, especially since he still had a death grip on her hand (and she was pretty sure she was losing circulation). He nodded and had a glassy look in his blue eyes. The drugs were definitely starting to work. "Positive?" He nodded one more time, still not letting go.

"Hey, Rach?" The paramedics had him on the stretcher and Rachel finally managed to free her hand from Nigel's sweaty grip. She raised her eyebrows as he slurred, "I love you." Regardless of telling herself that it was the drugs talking, not Nigel, she still felt her heart stop. And not beat again until the ambulance was out of sight.a/

* * *

 **A/N: Honestly, I have no idea when the next chapter will be up, hopefully soon, but no promises. But I sure do hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you did, be sure to review!**

 **\- Maddie**


	5. Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eater

**A/N: Hi! Welcome back to Most Likely to Succeed! Sorry, I've been lacking lately, I still love you guys and this fic! Anyways, I hope you enjoy and still I don't own Codename: Kids Next Door, believe it or not.**

 **Friday** _ **\- 9:02 a.m**_

 _ **Drilovsky Residence**_

Fanny groggily nudged her head into the pillow as she heard her phone going off. She was confused about why Def Leppard was playing; she hated Def Leppard. That was when she realized that the 'pillow' was Patton's bare shoulder and the terrible music was coming from Patton's phone and that she had spent the night in Patton's house. "Shit, Patton, I told you we couldn't do this anymore!" She exclaimed, making the dark haired boy stretch his arms up and then wrap one around Fanny,

"You're the one that called me, baby." He kissed the top of her frizzy red hair. She _hated_ him. She hated that he had complete control of her, she hated that she was so infatuated with him. It's not like she _wanted_ to fall in love with the guy that broke Kuki's heart. She sighed and shoved him off of her. "Do you seriously not remember last night?" She jerked the covers off, horrified to see that she was naked.

"No, I don't. I don't want to either." She could hear her accent coming through, like it always did was she was frustrated. Fanny didn't know what it was that made her feel so _connected_ to Patton, but there was something. And that something was so strong, it made her throw girl-code out the window. She laid back down, deciding that there was no way she was going to get up and let him see her naked. "Why did you break things off with Kuki?"

"Do you really want to talk about that?" He ran his fingers through his hair. Upon closer look, she realized that it wasn't gel in his hair, it was just really greasy. She nodded and with that, Patton began talking. "Wally was mad. He said that I-uh, he basically said that I wasn't good enough for her." Fanny's eyes got wide and she jerked up, no longer caring that her boobs were out,

"Are you telling me that this is only happening because you're good enough for me, but _not_ Kuki?!" She screeched. His dark eyes rolled as he shook his head,

"No, Wally only said that because he has a thing for her. And I _respect_ bro-code." He gave Fanny a sly side-eye glance, making her punch him hard in the shoulder, "Hey! Watch it, I'm a _quarterback_ ,"

"That's not funny." She said, Patton shrugged. Actually, it was sort of funny. Fanny Fulbright was notorious for breaking girl-code and everybody knows it. Rachel and Kuki especially, with them both being first hand victims. "You're such a jerk." She laid back down and covered herself up once again. Patton, on the other hand, pulled the covers off of himself and got up. Fanny couldn't help staring at his pale, toned butt as he pulled on a pair of boxers.

"I'm gonna go make breakfast. Want something?"

"Only if you bring it in here." She said as he opened his bedroom door. He shrugged. As he was out the door and halfway down the hall almost to the kitchen he heard Fanny shout, "Pancakes!" He shook his head as a small grin crossed his face. Mixing the pancake batter and then pouring it into the pan, he jumped when he heard a voice behind him.

"Hey, you know your girlfriend is naked in your bed, right." Patton rolled his eyes and grabbed a spatula from the drawer. His brother reached on top of the fridge to grab a box of Raisin Bran (because the tasty, sugary cereals were banned in the Drilovsky household).

"Obviously, I know that." He almost added 'She's not my girlfriend' but stopped himself.

"Dad would be pretty pissed if he found out." He poured the cereal and grabbed a can of beer from the fridge. Patton raised his dark eyebrow and flipped the pancakes over.

"What're you gonna do? Snitch?" He asked, watching his brother pour the beer over the cereal, almost making him gag. "That's gross." He mentioned.

"We're out of milk." The older Drilovsky boy grabbed a spoon from the drawer and began eating. Patton shook his head, "I'm not gonna snitch; I'm just tryin' to tell ya to be careful." Patton rolled his eyes and muttered something that sounded like 'whatever', and then went back to focusing on not burning the pancakes. The last thing he wanted to do was give Fanny _another_ thing to complain about.

 _ **10:23 a.m**_

 _ **Uno Residence**_

Bed-ridden for two weeks, Nigel was almost to the point of combustion. He was supposed to be at practice, getting ready for McClintock's seventh meet. He was supposed to be outrunning Rachel for the school record. He grinded his teeth together and mentally kicked himself for what he said when there was adrenaline (and some morphine) coursing through his body. He didn't even like Rachel most of the time, let alone _love_ her. He loved Lizzie. He slammed his head against his pillow, wincing when he felt the pain in his knee flare up again. He hated that he held her hand. He really hated that she ran to him when she saw that he was down. It made him feel guilty. It was hard to hate Rachel when she kept giving him reasons not to.

He hit his head hard on the bed frame as he tried to sit up when he heard footsteps. Both of his parents were at work and he couldn't defend himself from a burglar with his crapped-out leg. He winced from the pain and sighed when he saw Lizzie. She looked oddly messy. Normally Lizzie was wearing an outfit that would take her _forever_ to pick out, with her hair straightened and her makeup flawless. But today she was wearing an old sweatshirt and running shorts with a hole in the left buttcheek. Her red hair was braided, with baby hairs sticking up everywhere. Her face was blotchy and her pimples weren't concealed with her usual cosmetics. "Hi," She offered him a small smile, for once she was timid. It was like she was almost scared of him freaking out.

"Hey," He mumbled. Pathetic. Pathetic was the only word he could think of to describe himself. He hadn't showered in two days and his brown hair, as little as he may have, was disgusting and he was almost sure that he smelled like B.O. She sat down on the bed and ran her fingers through his hair.

"I know that you're absolutely devastated, but you can't lay in bed forever." Her tone was different than normal. Her normal bossiness was replaced with a sort of gentleness. He sighed and nodded. He knew that. He just wasn't quite ready to accept it. She looked down and rubbed his arm. "How about this: you shower and then we can go get lunch. It'll do you good to get out the house." She suggested with a small smile. He almost said no. But instead he just nodded. "Do you… Do you need help?" He noticed her quickly glance at his knee and then back up at him with a guilty look. He shook his head and tossed the covers off of his body. He could feel his heart pounding, he definitely could not hold himself up, especially after barely moving for so long. But he sure as hell wasn't going to admit that. She wordlessly stood up and handed him the crutches that were leaning against the wall.

As coordinated as Nigel Uno was, he could not for the life of him, figure out how to use crutches. They were awkward and he couldn't adjust them to the exact perfect height and honestly, they really hurt his armpits. "Nigel-" He jerked his head back from the door frame where he was standing. Lizzie was still sitting on the bed, with a sad look across her face. "Are you sure you don't need help."

"I'm seventeen-years-old, I don't need help taking a _shower_." Lizzie rolled her eyes. God, he could be so stubborn.

"You're seventeen with a major knee injury. There's absolutely nothing wrong with asking for help." She mentioned. She couldn't see his face, but Lizzie knew that Nigel rolled his eyes.

"There's also nothing wrong with not _needing_ help in the first place." And with that he hobbled out the door, down the hall and into the bathroom. As soon as she heard the door slam, she walked out to the hallway and right outside the door, wanting to be able to hear if something happened. Because knowing him, he would just sit there all day. Lord forbid the all mighty Nigel Uno ever ask for help.

After seemingly forever, he finally emerged from the bathroom, soaking wet and completely naked. "I need clothes," He said, trying to ignore the fact that she had been waiting right outside. She quickly got up from the floor and went into his room before he had the chance to hobble down the hall. She grabbed a tee shirt that had nothing to do with track or cross country on the front, a pair of athletic shorts and a pair of underwear. She bit her lip and grinned as she tossed him his clothes one at a time, so that he could put them on.

"Nice tighty whities." She laughed. He struggled a little to get them on, but he managed _without_ any help. He rolled his eyes, but there was a smile playing on his lips as well,

"Ha. Ha. Very mature." She tossed him the rest of his clothes and let him finish dressing before they came up with a game plan to get him down the stairs. Turns out, the best idea was for him to slide down on his butt. Lizzie laughed, watching him from the bottom of the stairs. As soon as he was on his feet again he picked out his wedgie and went towards the kitchen, grabbing his painkillers.

"Is this the first time you've taken those today?" Lizzie wondered, pointing at the prescription bottle. Nigel nodded and swallowed them with a sip of lukewarm Diet Coke that had already been sitting in the counter.

"Yes." _No._ He winced as a sat down at the table, staring at his knee. It was swollen and held into place until surgery by a huge inconvenient brace. The odds of him actually tearing his ACL while just doing sprints were so slim, he wasn't really convinced that it was his ACL. That kind of injury happens to basketball and soccer players. Not cross country runners. He was supposed to sprain his ankle and then get back to running a week later; not completely tear a ligament and probably not get back to running until late track season. By then it would be pointless anyway; Rachel will already be holding the record. "I don't think I can get back up." He looked back up at Lizzie who had already grabbed her car keys. "I also don't think I can get in the Bug."

"I didn't drive the Bug." Puzzled, Nigel looked out the window and saw a huge SUV sitting in his driveway.

"Where did you get that monstrosity?"

"It's my sister's." She shrugged, and then gently grabbed his arm, "Come on, Uno, we've made it this far." Once again, he almost said no. But instead, he figured that Lizzie was right; they had made it this far. Might as well get something out of it.

 _ **11:49 a.m**_

 _ **Virginia Tech University**_

Waking up early on her day off and driving for two hours wasn't exactly how Rachel wanted to spend it. But, Rachel did want to spend it with Chad and since he had classes, her only choice was to drive to him. Besides, Rachel thought it would be kind of cute to surprise him with lunch. She didn't mind as much once she got coffee pumping through her veins and she finally found a radio station that didn't have annoying talk show hosts discussing the latest mainstream scandals. Walking across campus, trying to navigate everything, she felt almost giddy to see Chad. She also felt both giddy and anxious thinking about how this was going to be her next year (albeit, on a different campus).

Finally coming across his dorm, she walked into the elevator and pressed the six button. She always wondered why he didn't join a frat. Chad would fit perfectly in any Alpha-Beta-Bullshit. She didn't ask.

Opening the door that was surprisingly unlocked, she felt her both her jaw and her heart drop. There was Chad, her boyfriend of nearly four years, in bed with some big-boobed brunette. She didn't even feel her grip on her coffee cup loosen until it was on the carpet and her brand new white Nike's. "My carpet," Chad stared at the pool of liquid on the floor as Rachel scoffed,

"Your _carpet_?" She couldn't really believe her eyes. The girl rolled over and covered herself up with the blanket that _Rachel_ got him for Christmas a few years ago when he complained about how cold his dorm was. "Are you _fucking_ kidding me, Chad?!" The shock had subsided. The plastic bag that was filled with two styrofoam boxes of Chinese food, she had the urge to either slam on the ground or throw at his head.

"What are you, his little sister, or something?" She felt her face twist into something _ugly_. She wanted to scream and yell and beat the mother-loving crap out of Chad. But instead, she stepped over her spilt cup and placed the bag on his clutter-filled desk. She tried not to think about how he didn't have any pictures of her in his dorm; he must have taken them down since the last time she was there.

"Hope you two like Chinese," She muttered. Chad hopped out of bed, completely naked.

"Rachel, wait." He reached for her arm, which she jerked back. She shook her head and bit her tongue. _Don't cry, McKenzie. Keep it together._ She let out a shaky breath and shook her head, walking out the door. He followed her, obviously not caring about his lack of clothing. "It's not what you think; I'm sorry." He spoke. She kept walking. She couldn't even stomach to look at him, despite the tiny part of her wanting to him to follow.

He didn't.

She stalked back across campus, embarrassed and convinced that all of the college kids were secretly making fun of her. _Keep it together, you little shit. Don't you dare cry._ Finally, in the comfort of her car, she let out a heart wrenching sob. She placed her hands on the steering wheel and slammed her head against it, not even caring if she hit the horn. She felt a physical cracking in her chest and Rachel had never hated herself more than she did in that very moment. _Pathetic_.

 _ **7:02 p.m**_

 _ **Sims Residence**_

Hoagie tapped his thumb impatiently against the steering wheel. He told Virgina to be ready at 6:50, and yet he was stuck waiting in the driveway. He thought about going in, but he knew that if he went in, he wouldn't get out for at least forty-five minutes. Virginia's parents are talkers. They talk and talk and talk and talk and Hoagie, Bartie, Herbie and Kade let them talk because they don't mind the four of them crashing their basement. The volleyball game started two minutes ago, and it would take them at least ten minutes to get to the high school, even with Hoagie's speeding habit. He sent Virginia another text right as she emerged from the front door. Gracefully sliding into the Subaru, she raised her eyebrows, "What's your problem?"

"I told you to be ready twelve minutes ago." He backed out of her driveway and she rolled her eyes, tugging her seatbelt on.

"If you wanted to be on time, you should've asked Herbie to go with you." She said, already messing around with the radio. "Besides, I'm doing _you_ a favor."

"Whatever."

"About that, why did you just ask me?" She leaned back in the seat once she finally found a radio station that she liked. "Is it like a date or somethin'?" She teased, making him scoff and roll his eyes, "It's okay, Hoagie, I know I'm hot."

"Yeah, right, Bartie would beat the shit out of me," He mentioned. "What?" He looked over at Virginia, whose face went dark and panicky,

"Did he tell you?"

"That you guys are dating? No." She let out a sigh of relief and then glanced back over with her dark eyebrows raised, "You'd have to be braindead to not realize," He answered her unspoken question.

"So does that mean-"

"No, I don't think Herbie and Kade have any idea," He answered, "I'm not sure why you guys are being so secretive. We're your best friends. It feels kinda… cheaty."

"It would be weird." She answered. "And don't say it wouldn't be, because it would.

"It really wouldn't. We've been waiting for this since middle school," He pointed out as he pulled into the parking lot that was admittedly a little too full for a high school volleyball game.

"Well isn't it a little cheaty that you asked me to come with you to this stupid game instead of them?" She tried to change the subject, which Hoagie noticed, but let it slide. He figured they would come around eventually.

"I don't want to hear pervy comments every thirty seconds." He answered. Getting out of the car and locking it as the two began walking towards the entrance.

"So why are we here anyways?"

"I'm here to shut down whatever sick fantasy my brain has decided to latch onto. And you're here so I don't look like a sad loser."

"You look like a sad loser, regardless." She smirked, which made him sarcastically laugh. "What kind of fantasy?" He shook his head, and ran his finger through his unruly curly hair.

"Nope."

"Come on, Gilligan! You know my secret, I wanna know yours." She kept nudging him as the two walked to the clearest spot on the bleachers. Unfortunately, Hoagie had the perfect view of the girl he was trying to get his mind off of. Virginia followed his stare and gasped, "Muffy Jenkins!"

"No."

"Angeline?"

"No." She kept staring in the same direction. The four seniors were out on the court in a small huddle. It looked like Muffy was about to rip Anna's head off and Abby and Angeline were trying to calm them down.

"It's not Anna?" She questioned, looking down the bleachers towards Jimmy and his obnoxiously large cowboy hat.

"Correct." She continued to point out the few other girls that we younger than them that were also on the team before glancing back over at him with her eyebrows raised.

"Hoagie. Abby Lincoln? She's like… way outta your league." Virginia pointed out making Hoagie sigh and glare,

"Yeah, I'm aware. That's why I'm here."

"Your plan fuckin' sucks." She deadpanned. The two sat in silence as the game continued. For as smart as Hoagie was, he had absolutely no idea what was going on. "What's going on?"

"I don't know Virginia, I play the saxophone, not volleyball." He responded, making Virginia stick her tongue out and roll her eyes.

"I'm sure you looked it up. Kinda like how I'm sure if I look on your Instagram, hers is the most searched." It took everything out of him to try and stop his cheeks from turning red. She would be right about the latter, but for some reason he never even thought about looking up the rules of volleyball.

"Whatever." She nudged him again and smiled.

"I like this Hoagie." She glanced over at him, proud of herself for _finally_ getting his face to turn red. "Way better than cynical, sarcastic Hoagie."

"I'm still cynical and sarcastic." He muttered darkly, making the girl beside him laugh.

Here's the thing about volleyball: most of it is incredibly boring. But that didn't stop Hoagie from staring at the girl who was standing in front of the net. From what he's picked up on so far, Abby was always in the middle. She seems to be pretty good at it too, not that he was surprised. Abigail Lincoln has a reputation for being good at everything. Although Hoagie was infatuated throughout the whole game, Virginia grew more and more restless with each point. "I'm bored."

"Okay."

"Seriously, Hoagie. Why are we here?" She wondered, "It's unhealthy. It's stalkerish."

"It's not stalkerish. It's an infatuation. It's a spark that I'm spitting and stomping on. Just let me finish the game so I can get some sort of closure." He defended himself, not taking his eyes off of the court. Virginia rolled her dark eyes and twirled her dark hair between her fingers. Virginia let out a moan of relief and mentally reminded herself to never go out alone with Hoagie again as she stood up once the final match was over. The Lady Mustangs had pulled off another win. Based on Abby's Instagram, this win would turn their undefeated record from seven wins to eight.

Abby's smile made his heart flutter. It made him want to rip his heart out of is chest and piss on it for making him feel so infatuated with a girl he had no chance with and really didn't even know in the first place. He looked up from his scruffed sneakers and felt his stomach drop as he made eye contact with her. Without even hesitating, she smiled and waved. He couldn't help glancing behind him, to make sure she wasn't looking at someone else. Looking back down at her, he lifted his hand and grinned.

"Well. At least she knows you exist." Virginia said. Hoagie didn't respond, he was too busy watching Abby jog to the locker room. "So are you over her now?" She asked.

"Nope."

"Didn't think so." She responded as the two walked out into the cool fall night towards the Subaru. "Told you your plan sucked."

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry I suck and take so long updating. But, in my defense, I did get a job and I am currently failing precalc. But anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope you review and I hope you have a wonderful and stressless week!**

 **-Maddie**


	6. A Little Party Never Killed Nobody

**A/N: Wow, _two_ updates within the same month? Who even am I? Anyways, hope you enjoy :)**

* * *

 **Saturday - 9:27 p.m**

 **Lime Household**

Rachel was never much of a party person, but she couldn't stand being locked up in her house any longer. The more she thought about the breakup, the less it hurt. But only because the signs were there the whole time, she was just too naive to notice. She tried not to let it bug her, besides, pretty soon she would head off to college far-far away and she could hook-up with a guy who was more than just a football player. Because that's all Chad was. A douchebag, meat-headed football player.

As soon as she walked into Ricky's house she automatically felt _so_ guilty; his house was going to be _so_ trashed by the end of the night, which was unfortunate because it's a really nice house with a really expensive interior. She somehow got a drink (some crappy beer that tasted absolutely disgusting) and made her way to the backyard.

It was really awkward. The party was in full swing, but to Rachel that didn't matter because she didn't really have any friends, or anyone to latch onto. Swallowing her anxiety, she walked towards the two boys sitting on the swingset. "Get a haircut?" She nodded towards Hoagie, who's hair looked much better. It was still really curly, but more tamed than it had the last time she saw him on Thursday. He took a drink of his beer and nodded,

"Yeah. I figured when my mom said I looked like white Jimi Hendrix, it was probably time." Bartie scrunched his eyebrows and shook his head,

"Personally, I see Jim Morrison after he moved to Paris to become a poet." He added. Hoagie shrugged and rubbed his face,

"No beard," He looked back towards Rachel, noticing how uncomfortable she looked. Instead of mentioning it, he said, "So, Rachel, since when do you come to shitty house parties?"

"Normally, I'm not a huge fan of drunk teenagers doing stupid things, but I could use a pick-me-up and free booze," She answered, hopping up and sitting on the old wood, hoping it will hold her weight. When nothing creaked, she let out a sigh of relief and took sip of her beer.

"Too bad the booze sucks," Bartie mumbled sniffing his own drink before making a gagging noise. Then he sat up and looked around, obviously searching for someone within the crowd of teenagers. "And nobody is drunk enough to make a scene,"

"Yet." Hoagie muttered.

"What about you guys? I thought you were too edgy to come to high school parties." She sent a meaningful glance towards both of their ripped jeans and tee shirts representing rock bands from the '60s (Hoagie, The Doors and Bartie, The Who). Hoagie pushed his glasses up his nose, an ill-mannered retort on the tip of his tongue. He was ready to spat it out but when he saw the smirk playing on her lips, he faltered. Banter. That's what that was. To be quite honest, he had no idea Rachel even had a sense of humor.

"Yeah well, Bartie's looking for some pot and I'm-"

"Here to stalk Abby Lincoln- not that it matters 'cause if she's not here by now, she's not coming at all." Bartie finished for him. If looks could kill, Bartie would be _very_ dead. If there was a wall, Hoagie would have slammed his head into it and he would've thrown Bartie through it. But he learned his lesson: don't tell Virginia anything ever. The single-raised-eyebrow look that Rachel was giving Hoagie reminded him a lot of Nigel Uno. He always made that look and it was _always_ the left eyebrow.

"Not stalk." Was all the auburn-haired boy said. He didn't want to seem like a creep. Because he wasn't. He was just hoping that Abby would be here and he would finally get the opportunity to talk to her. Although he knew that would never happen, he'd have to grow a pair _real_ quick and that wasn't going to happen.

"You guys would be cute together," Rachel mentioned, swirling her bottle around. "Where do you plan on getting pot from?" She looked at Bartie, who jerked his head up and rolled his eyes,

"Joe Balooka. If the piece of shit ever decides to show." He checked his phone again, obviously annoyed. Rachel was too busy thinking about how _little_ she knew about her classmates due to the fact that she's been so wrapped up in Chad for the past three years. She shook her head and felt a smile creep on her face as she saw three girls enter the backyard. She looked at Hoagie, who had also noticed. She let out a giggle when she saw his face turning a shade of pink from the lights illuminating the backyard.

"He probably won't, you know he doesn't like dealing at parties," Hoagie mentioned, not taking his bright blue eyes off of Abby. She looked so good and thankfully, there were enough people so that she wouldn't notice him staring. Or notice him at all.

"I'd rather deal at parties, it's less suspicious than an abandoned parking lot at night," Bartie muttered as he continued looking for Joe. Hoagie finally glanced over at his sandy-haired companion and glared through his Buddy Holly glasses. Bartie glanced up from his phone to look at Hoagie. "You used to be good friends," He mentioned, with a rather large amount of disgust in his voice, "Text him."

"He's your dealer. And you've got your phone in your hands. You text him." Hoagie responded, shaking his head and looking back towards Abby, trying to take in as much as possible. God, she was so pretty.

"Stop staring."

"I'm not staring," Hoagie kept staring. Rachel watched with an amused smile on her face from the sidelines. For some reason, the two of them gave her the sort of familiarity feeling that Fanny and Patton and Nigel used to give her (although, not as strong). And watching them banter back and forth with each other made her wish that she had someone to do that with. But instead, she was stuck sitting on a crappy wooden swing set, drinking gross beer, watching two teenage boys who don't get nearly enough credit argue back and forth.

* * *

Rachel was _not_ prepared for Fanny to come up to her. She thought the two had established a respectable 'you stay away from me, I stay away from you' situation, but apparently, that was not the case. The redhead was more than a little tipsy, and Rachel gagged at the stench of beer over her, but then again, Rachel probably had that exact same stench on her because she was a bit intoxicated herself.

That was probably how she had the guts to actually stand up for herself. But now, she was balls deep into an argument that was probably going to end in crying, physical fighting, or maybe both. "Yeah, Fanny, I know it's real hard for you to keep your hands off of boys your so-called 'friends' are dating," Rachel said, still sitting on the same spot she was about an hour ago, giving a meaningful glance at Patton.

"Bit hypocritical, don't you think, Rachel?" Lizzie apparently finally had enough and stepped in for Fanny. The evil grin that appeared on her face when she saw Rachel falter gave everyone watching chills. She scrunched her eyebrows together. Who could she possibly be talking abou- Oh. She looked across the backyard and locked eyes with kid who hadn't had a full head of hair since he was seven. That's who she was talking about.

"Nigel?" She didn't have to ask, she knew. Lizzie stared as if she was the dumbest person alive. Which, maybe she was for indulging Fanny and arguing with her. Rachel quickly glanced back at Hoagie, who was sitting in the same spot as he had before, except he looked like he was going to explode. Bartie was off somewhere dealing with Balooka, who had finally shown up. "Lizzie- if I really wanted your boyfriend, I would have him by now." Lizzie's face turned a dark shade of red as everyone who close enough to hear and sober enough to understand laughed. Mentally, Rachel patted herself on the back, a sly grin appearing on her face, especially as she saw Abby Lincoln laugh as well (she couldn't really explain it, but for some reason, Abby's opinion meant way more to her than it should have).

Lizzie's head whipped back to stare at Nigel, who looked pitiful leaning onto his crutches. He shook his head at Rachel, who fake gasped and internally wondered where the hell she found all of this courage that's apparently been pitted inside of her all along. "Is that your way of telling me to stop? Why should I?"

"Be the bigger person," She heard Hoagie scoff from across the swingset. She jerked her head over, thinking about how she would crap her pants if Hoagie actually spoke up. The kid who used to get the shit beat out of him by the jocks and bullied by the cheerleaders coming to her aid was crazy. Stupid even.

"Fanny started it. Rachel should end it." The look on Patton Drilovksy's chisled face from the porch was priceless as he stared at the bespectacled teenager from across the backyard.

Unfortunately the feeling of pride swelling in his chest was cut off and it was obvious that Rachel would not be the one to end the quarrel. The distant sounds of sirens and flashing lights ended whatever spark began that night and people went off running in all directions. Suddenly, Hoagie and Rachel both hopped down and made a beeline for the gate opening. She sort of stumbled, which made easy for Hoagie to keep up with her. Just as the two were within reach, the gate burst open. Rachel almost spun around, but as she saw Hoagie strategically dodge both of them, she laughed and did the same thing, both of them jogging away from the house.

"Shit." Hoagie was bent over, his hands on his knees heavily breathing. "Bartie. I forgot Bartie."

"He'll be fine," Rachel said, "Did you drive?" She prayed the answer was yes, because she didn't. She took a bus. Which may have sounded ridiculous at the time, but looking back she internally praised her past self.

"Yeah," He stood up and pulled the keys out of his pocket and nodded toward the beat-to-hell Subaru parked on the other side of the road. He was obviously smart enough to park far enough away from the house, unlike plenty of other of their classmates. "Need a ride?"

 **10:56 p.m**

 **Sanban Residence**

"Is there a reason why you're crying into a bowl of cereal at eleven o'clock on a Saturday night?" Kuki sniffled and wiped her nose with her sleeve. She glared up at Mushi and deadpanned,

"Probably because I hate my life," She answered, expecting her twelve-year-old sister to make some nasty remark, laugh about it, and then go back to her room, which would leave Kuki and her Rainbow Munchies alone. Instead, she plopped down on the couch and looked at her expectantly. "What?"

"We're sisters. Confide in me." Mushi said, still staring at her older sister. Kuki scoffed and shook her head,

"So you can bully me about? Yeah, right." She muttered, eating another spoonful of sugary goodness. "I get enough crap from my friends, I don't need it from you too." Mushi's face softened as she kept staring.

"Seriously, Kuki. You can talk to me. We _are_ sisters." Kuki was suspicious. Mushi was (normally) the absolute definition of evil, she only ever cared about herself or her (gross) boyfriend, Sandy. She glanced at the younger girl again before taking another bite of cereal.

"Not much to say." She shrugged. Mushi kept looking at her, motioning for her to continue. "I'm stuck in a friendship with girls that I don't really like. Fanny stole Patton from me." She said. This time Mushi did laugh, making Kuki angry.

"Dude, Patton sucks. It's better that he dumped you." She said.

"Not the point. Fanny and I are supposed to be friends, but instead she's been sleeping with a guy that she _knew_ was with me," Kuki responded, staring at the TV. "There was a party tonight and I couldn't stomach going because halfway through I'd have to watch Fanny and Patton sneak off and canoodle,"

"Canoodle?" Mushi had a small smile on her face as she began laughing at her sister's word choice. Kuki finally cracked a grin and then started laughing along with Mushi. Maybe she wasn't so evil after all.

 **11:21 p.m**

 **Mel's Diner**

"Can't believe you got coffee," Bartie shook his head in mock disgust as he nodded towards Rachel, "Especially straight black coffee. Gross," Rachel rolled her eyes and shook her head,

"First of all, there's sugar in it. Therefore, it's not straight black coffee. Second, I don't drink milkshakes. They taste too… milky." She laughed looking at Abby's expression; a dark eyebrow raised and the look of astoundment in her eyes.

"Aren't milkshakes… supposed to taste like milk?" She wondered, making Rachel nod.

"Yeah, that's why I don't drink them. Because they taste too milky."

"That's the dumbest thing I've heard anyone say, _ever_ ," Hoagie laughed, taking a sip of his own milkshake, which was cookies 'n creme but with chocolate ice cream instead of vanilla. He was trying really, really, _really_ hard to not stare at Abby. The absolute last thing he would have expected to result from going to some shitty party was for him to be sitting in a booth across from the girl he had a crush on. It made him regret leaving the Subaru a complete mess; wrappers and dirty clothes and random sheets of (incomplete) homework were everywhere. Rachel only laughed and took a drink of her coffee,

"Besides, coffee helps sober you up. I kinda need that right now," She internally groaned at the thought of a hangover, but then realized that if she was sober enough to be worried about a hangover, she probably wouldn't have one.

"You had like two beers," Bartie mentioned. "And they were the shitty kind, too." He mentioned, taking another sip of his strawberry milkshake, sticking his tongue in the whip cream, getting some of the fluffy substance on his nose. Hoagie nodded towards it, making Bartie try to lick it off, but failing miserably as his tongue wasn't long enough.

"I'm a 5'6, one-hundred-seventeen-pound girl who almost never drinks," She laughed, "I have zero tolerance," Then she looked over at Abby, who was sitting on the outside of the booth, "Did you have anything to drink?"

"No, Muffy's plan was to get super wasted so I was the designated driver," She stirred her own milkshake with the spoon and then continued, "But we took Angie's car because mine's too nice for Muffy to puke in it,"

"Can't she just open the door?" Rachel wondered making Abby laugh to herself,

"She can't hold it in, ever. She just spews," The other three laughed along with her. All three of them individually feeling a strange sort of familiarity that they had never really experienced at such high levels.

"That's what Nigel does. You would expect someone so _clean_ to make it to a toilet or a trash can, but he just can't," Rachel added, grabbing another sugar packet and dumping it into her mug.

"Speaking of Nigel, what happened to his uh-" Hoagie paused, "The body part that I can't think of- the thing that's in the middle of his leg-" The auburn-haired boy rambled, laughing harder and harder as he couldn't think of the word.

"His knee?" Abby laughed,

"Yeah, that, his knee," Hoagie nodded, looking over at the dark-skinned girl. A glance turned into something a little longer as he tried to take her in because he knew that this was definitely a one-time thing. Besides, Abby and Rachel were too cool to hang out with him and Bartie anyways.

"He tore his ACL,"

"So he'll be out until," Abby paused to the math inside her head, "At least track season, depending on how he handles everything. That sucks," She added, making Rachel shrug,

"Yeah, for him," She mentioned, taking another sip of her coffee that was beginning to run low.

"Jesus, Rachel," Bartie said, despite laughing, "That was fucking brutal."

"Yeah, well after that bullshit he pulled tonight I feel absolutely no remorse," Rachel responded, picking up her empty mug. It had a cute little design on the front of Snoopy wearing a red 'Joe Cool' sweater. She cracked a small smile and then glanced back up, "So yeah. Screw Nigel. And Lizzie. And Patton. But especially screw Fanny,"

"Hell yeah!"

"I'll drink to that," Hoagie took another sip of his milkshake that was becoming increasingly empty. He looked up and saw their waitress coming with their food. She placed the scrambled eggs with hashbrowns in front of Bartie, the cheeseburger with onion rings in front of Hoagie, the waffles a la mode in front of Abby, and finally, the veggie omelette in front of Rachel. After saying their thanks, she went back to get them all coffees (minus Abby, who got a Coke).

"So volleyball, how's that going?" Rachel looked at Abby as she stabbed into the omelette. The dark-haired girl shrugged as she chewed her waffle,

"It's okay. I was never really a big fan of volleyball though,"

"But you're so good," He didn't really think that the words were coming out of his mouth until they did, Hoagie tried as hard as he could to try and prevent his cheeks from turning rosy. But as Abby grinned at him, he knew it was hopeless.

"Eh, I only played to hang out with Muffy and Angie. And Anna," She added as if she forgot.

"So you got a boyfriend?" Bartie asked, completely changing the subject. Abby wasn't too keen on being interrogated but she didn't let it bother her. She looked at Bartie and laughed while shaking her head,

"Nope. No boyfriend," She raised her eyebrows and glanced back towards the sandy-haired teenager, "Don't you have a girlfriend?"

"Yes, but she doesn't want people to know. So no, I don't have a girlfriend and her name is not Virginia." Bartie responded, taking a sip of his recently delivered coffee. He gagged and reached towards the creamer on the table. Grabbing five little cartons he said, "Rachel, you've gotta be really fucked up if you can drink coffee like this," Rachel laughed and rolled her eyes.

"What about you," Abby glanced over beside her. The blonde raised her eyebrows in questioning, "Still dating Chad?"

"Oh, no." She said through a mouthful of egg and vegetables, "I actually caught him cheating on me yesterday. I went to surprise him and… yeah,"

"Aw, that sucks,"

"Chad was a douchebag anyways,"

"The girl he was with-" She started laughing. "When I walked in, I dropped coffee all over my brand new _white_ shoes, she said 'are you his sister or something?'. Oh man, that is by far going to be the funniest thing that's ever happened to me. And you're right, Chad is a douchebag. All football players are."

"For example," Bartie glanced at Hoagie, "Tommy." Hoagie glanced over and glared over his glasses.

"Dude, no offense, but Tommy is a 'Patton 2.0' in the making," Rachel said. Hoagie shook his head,

"Yeah, none taken. I hate Tommy. And not in like a brotherly way, either." He said. "Being the oldest sucks." Rachel nodded in agreement. Being the oldest _did_ suck.

"High school sucks," Bartie muttered,

"I'll drink to that," Abby said, the four of them all picking up their glasses and clinking them together, goofy smiles on all four of their faces.

* * *

 **A/N: And that's that. Anyways, there probably won't be another update in a while, I've got to get my shit together and boost my GPA. But I won't be working nearly as much as I have been for the past threeish months, so maybe I'll be able to sneak in another chapter here or there. I hope you enjoyed and this anxiety-filled teenager would really love a review to reassure her. Anywho, I hope you have a happy New Year and I hope you all stay safe!**

 **xoxo,**

 **Maddie**


	7. Let the Door Hit You on the Way Out

**A/N: Hello friends, welcome back to Most Likely to Succeed! I don't have much to say other than this is mostly just a filler chapter and that there's more exciting stuff coming up in a little bit. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 _ **Sunday** **\- Drilovsky Household**_

 _ **8:12 a.m**_

" _Dammit_!" Fanny exclaimed, probably a little too loud, as she sat up in bed, looking at the black-haired boy beside of her. "Why does this keep _fucking_ happening?"

"You keep getting very drunk and you keep coming on to me," Patton responded, stretching his arms up and yawning.

"You could say no," Fanny said, crossing her arms in front of her chest stubbornly.

"Tried," He shrugged. Staring at him, Fanny noticed that he was kind of really hairy. Sort of like a sexy gorilla, if you will. "You were very persistent,"

"Patton that's practically rape!" She exclaimed, though she knew that not even Patton Drilovsky would sink that low. And deep down, she knew that she definitely wanted it, not that she would admit it to _anyone_ (including herself or Patton). Patton wasn't even phased by the accusation as he got out of bed and pulled on a pair of boxers.

"It's not rape if there's consent," He said, looking through his tee shirts. "Want proof?" He didn't even bother waiting for her to answer and turned around and gestured towards his chest and the multiple hickeys covering it and some of his neck. Fanny stuck her tongue out, wanting to pull the hairs off. She couldn't believe that she put her mouth anywhere near his hairy chest.

"Oh."

"Yeah." Patton grabbed a tee shirt and jeans, putting them on and turning back towards Fanny. "You're gonna have to go through the window," He nodded towards it. Fanny's eyebrows immediately shot up and her jaw dropped. She did him the _favor_ of sleeping with him and he makes her go out through the window?

"I can't just… walk out the front door?" She wondered, staying in bed under the warm covers. Patton shook his head and ran his hand through his greasy hair.

"My dad's here. He'd kill me and then tell your dad. Who would bring me back to life just to kill me again."

"So you're saving your own ass? What about mine? I could die crawling out the window!"

"Fanny. I live in a one-story house. You won't die." He rolled his dark eyes, "Besides, if your dad found out he'd definitely take away your sexy Sadie." It was Fanny's turn to roll her eyes. She absolutely hated when he called her precious Mercedes-Benz that. The new white sedan that her dad surprised her with after she wrecked her BMW was the single most important thing to her (which seemed unbelievable to anyone that has seen her drive).

"Are you at least gonna drive me home?" He rolled his dark eyes before shrugging his shoulders and sighing,

"I guess,"

 _ **Devine Household**_

 _ **11:37 a.m**_

"Are you like, mad at me or something?" Nigel looked up from his phone and cocked his eyebrow. Yeah. He was mad. But was it worth arguing over? Probably not.

"Little bit, yes," Maybe it was worth arguing over. "You forced me to go to a really shitty party, the cops showed up and we very well could have gotten arrested. And you had to go start drama with Rachel over _literally_ nothing."

"I was standing up for Fanny," She responded, standing up from her chair and going to the fridge.

"Fanny started it. And then in return, I had to back you up because if not, I would look like a bad boyfriend."

"I didn't ask you to back me up. I just try my best to be a good friend," She grabbed a bottle of orange juice from the fridge as Nigel tried to keep himself from scoffing.

"I'm just trying to do the right thing. And last night- that wasn't the right thing. Rachel was right for standing up for herself," He said. He watched Lizzie roll her eyes and felt a sort of pain start bubbling in his chest. He shook his head,

"Rachel's just can't get over something that happened _years_ ago. She thinks that just because Fanny almost stole her boyfriend that she can try and steal mine three years later. And by the way, are you seriously just going to let that little comment slide?"

"You know it's not true! Let's say Rachel was completely, totally in love with me- it wouldn't matter! Because I'm completely, totally in love with you! Yeah, it was a bitchy comment, but Fanny started the whole thing in the first place. And you _asked_ for her to say something like that when you stepped in and you know it."

"Jesus Christ, Nigel, you act like this was my fault! You don't even know what happened between Fanny and Rachel!" The argument had snowballed so quickly, Nigel didn't even realize she was yelling until after she already was. "She's crazy! She probably twisted the whole thing to make _her_ sound like the victim!"

"You don't either! You have no idea! Nobody does, except for the two of them and _maybe_ Patton. And you're saying that Fanny didn't do the same thing? When was the last time she told the actual truth?"

"I can't believe you," Lizzie shook her head, "Seriously standing up for that _bitch_ when she said that shit!"

"I could say the same thing about Fanny. We can dance around for as long as you want, but _she's_ the one that started it. It's something that's between the two of them, you're the one that inserted yourself into it,"

"You know what? Fuck you. Get out of my house," She turned around and trotted up the stairs with her orange juice. "I mean it, Nigel Uno!"

She didn't have to tell him twice.

 _ **Echo Park**_

 _ **1:24 p.m**_

Wally glanced over at the scoreboard from across the field and sighed. He hated coaching. He especially hated coaching kids who, half of the time, didn't care enough to do anything right. And it's not like he could punish them because then he would get bullied by the parents. They were winning at the moment, but that's because he had his A team out there, and pretty soon he knew he would have to put B team in. He looked over at Joey, who was sitting on the bench, kicking a rock back and forth between his cleats. "Ready?"

"No," Joey didn't even bother looking up as he responded to his brother. He just kept kicking the rock. Wally rolled his eyes, he didn't understand how they could possibly be related. His only theory that has truly stuck is simply that Wally got the athleticism and Joey got the brains. Other theories that were tossed out the window include Joey being a test tube baby, Wally actually being his uncle's son instead of his dad's, and the idea that an alien switched Joey out for someone who's nothing like his older brother.

"Alright guys, go ahead and sub in," Wally said, looking down the bench. Wally quickly decided that was the worst part about coaching kids. The mandatory equal playing time. But then again, the A team hated that rule just as much. They hated knowing that they _could_ win games but they don't due to some stupid rule to keep kids from getting their feelings hurt.

That was what was making the younger generation so soft, Wally decided. The constant rule making to avoid getting hurt, emotionally and physically. He didn't have that growing up and he's perfectly fine. He's tough and ready for the real world. Unlike his baby brother, who was half-heartedly dribbling the ball between his ankles until two much bigger boys came up and sandwiched him; one stole the ball and the other tripped him. "Please don't cry, please don't cry," Pleading under his breath did nothing, because as soon as Wally looked up he saw Joey sitting on the grass bawling.

Shaking his head, he nodded towards the first kid on the bench, "Go sub for Joey," Eager to get back on the field, the kid quickly ran off as Joey dramatically hobbled over and sat back down on the bench. Wally glanced over,

"That didn't even hurt," Wally said. Joey looked up, tears no longer streaming down his face, and snarked,

"Oh yeah? Prove it." If he didn't have any self control, Wally would've picked his brother up by the shirt collar and let him have it. But instead, he kept his cool and kept coaching. He knew that he'd have plenty of other opportunities to teach Joey a lesson anyways.

"Brat,"

 _ **McKenzie Estate**_

 _ **5:41 p.m**_

Chad pushed the small blonde up against the wall of her bedroom, her muscular legs wrapped around his hips and her hands in his thick hair. A small groan escaped Rachel when he bit down on her lip and slipped his tongue into her mouth. He rubbed her toned stomach and she pulled away from him, jerking her tee shirt off. A few minutes later, her body tensed up when she heard her phone ding, almost as if she was out of the intense trance he put her in. "Are you fucking serious?" He dropped her when it dinged for the fifth time. "Who the hell do you text that much?" She shook her head and reached over to grab her phone off of the desk.

A small grin crossed her face when she saw the group chat. The four had made it the previous night for 'homework' but, so far, had been used for everything but it's original intention. Bartie sent Virginia's selfies for Abby and Rachel to pick because he 'doesn't have a fucking clue, she looks the same in all three'. Rachel shook her head, she definitely did not look the same in the pictures. Rachel quickly typed her response (the second one because the lighting was the best) and continued staring at the picture of Virginia. She glanced at Bartie's most recent text that said: 'She's so damn pretty'. Rachel had to agree, Virginia really was pretty. And she pulled off the facial piercings, she even made them look good. She tossed her phone back onto the bed and glanced back towards Chad. "Get out of my house,"

"What?"

"You heard me. Get out," She said, grabbing the tee shirt she was previously wearing and pulled it back over her head.

"But I thought we were good?"

"How could have possibly thought that?!" She yelled, hoping her parents left for their dinner party and couldn't hear the arguing.

"Because less than a minute ago my tongue was in your mouth!" He yelled back. When one yelled, the other one started too. That's how all of their fights went. But Rachel was determined to make sure this fight doesn't end how the other ones always did.

"You cheated on me!"

"I already told you, Rach. I'm sorry!"

"No! Don't call me that! And don't apologize! Not only are you not really sorry, but you don't deserve my forgiveness!" She shouted at him. She could feel the things that she had shoved down for the past four years wanting to push their way out. Instead, she swallowed and shook her head. "Just… Get out."

* * *

 **A/N: I hope you enjoyed, I'm sorry it's a little short (especially for how long the wait has been), but like I said, this is just sort of a filler. Anyways, I have no idea when the next chapter will be posted, I'm really busy with school and work and friends and trying to pimp myself for prom so I'm not the only one without a date. I hope you have a wonderful day (or night) and I hope you leave a review! I would love some ideas or suggestions!**

 **xoxo,**

 **Maddie**


	8. Artsy Fartsy

**A/N: Hey guys! It's been a little bit since an update, teenage like is just so busy, ya know? Anyways, I don't own Codename: Kids Next Door or the characters, just the ideas. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 _ **Thursday - 7:26 a.m**_

 _ **McClintock High - Parking Lot**_

"Hey guys, Abby's got something to confess," Abby looked over at Angeline, who was in the driver's seat of her hand-me-down Honda Odyssey. Angeline cocked her eyebrow and Muffy leaned forward and with her bacon, egg and cheese McGriddle stuffed her mouth, said,

"Spill," Abby closed her eyes and took in a deep breath then let it out.

"I think I'm in love with Hoagie."

After a few seconds of silence from her best friends she opened her eyes just as the two let out bursts of laughter. Abby stared ahead, no expression on her face as the other two continued laughing; Muffy even accidentally spit some of the breakfast sandwich out onto the floor. Angeline finally let out a breath and stopped laughing. Looking at Abby, a small smirk still on her face, she said, "Abby, you _hate_ Hoagie. You tell us that all the time."

"I don't _hate_ him,"

"Yeah, obviously not if you're in love with him," Muffy muttered. Angeline and Abby both looked back, different expressions on their faces. Angeline was obviously humored by Muffy's comment, but Abby certainly was not.

"Hey, can you guys take this seriously?" Both girls sobered up (sort of) and stared at Abby, who did look slightly baffled by the situation; which was odd for her. Abby Lincoln, flustered over a crush? Yeah, right.

"Okay, okay, we're sorry. Please continue," Angie took a sip of her iced coffee and looked at Abby expectantly, who just shrugged.

"No, I just need you guys to tell me why I'm _not_ in love with him," Muffy scoffed as she crumpled the yellow wrapper into a ball and tossed it behind. Ignoring Angie's glare, she stared at Abby,

"That's easy; Hoagie _sucks_!" She laughed and began counting on her fingers, "Can either of you remember the last time Hoagie turned in a piece of homework? Yet, he's still at like the top of our class. His wardrobe? All gross old band tee-shirts. Old and irrelevant, all of them. He's got such a sardonic and dark personality. And he probably has a small dick,"

"Hey, Hoagie's tall, he probably has at least an average- never mind," Abby spoke up. "There's nothing wrong with being naturally smart either. Or liking bands from a billion years ago."

"Dude, we were supposed to convince you to not be in love with Hoagie. That means shutting the fuck up and agreeing with us," Muffy said, not pleased that Abby was debating with her about the teenage boy.

"Not to mention those nose rings- not a good fashion choice," Angie added looking towards Abby who just shrugged. She almost said something about it 'being sorta hot', but then decided against it. Instead she said,

"He's had those since like sophomore year, when he went from super nerd to super edgy," Muffy and Angeline shared a look that made Abby want to simultaneously kill them and herself. "What?"

"Seriously, though Abby- how can you possibly think you're in love with Gilligan? I mean, I know none of us really know him that well, but he seems…" She hesitated. Not that it was a break in the conversation because Muffy picked up right where she left up,

"He seems like a dick. He's such a smartass, doesn't that piss you off?"

"So are you, but we still keep you around," Abby said, which evoked a middle finger from the blonde. "I don't know. I don't know what's happening. But for some reason I have the overwhelming urge to kiss him," Muffy and Angeline simultaneously screamed. Abby sighed exasperatedly. She wasn't sure why she bothered talking to them in the first place, they know about as much about love as she does (next to nothing).

"Abby he's not-" Angie looked at Muffy again for help; she didn't exactly know how to put this nicely. And Muffy didn't care about being nice,

"He's not attractive. The one thing he's got going for him is the longish curly hair. The sexy Kit Harington look," Abby looked at her with her eyebrows raised in question. Muffy shook her head, "Game of Thrones- whatever, not important. He's nothing spectacular. And he's fat." She deadpanned.

"That's mean," Abby chided.

"It's not like she's wrong, though," Angie spoke up. Abby changed her subject of glare from Muffy to Angeline who put her hands up in defense, "Don't look at me like that,"

"Hoagie isn't fat. He's…" She hesitated and berated herself for doing so. Muffy pointed her finger right in Abby's face,

"I guarantee that whatever word you're looking for his a synonym for fat. That doesn't change the fact that he is." Abby glared at her, pretty sure she had never wanted to deck Muffy more than she had wanted to then.

"Why does it matter?" Abby asked, "What does him being fat have to do with anything?" Both girls hesitated, both not wanting to piss Abby off anymore than she already was. After a few more moments of silence Abby opened the door and stepped out of the minivan. "Abby's goin' to class. See ya later," Before either had the chance to object, she slammed the door. She began to step away but turned around and opened the door again, "And he's _not_ ugly," She then slammed the door for good and walked towards the building. What shocked the girls the most was not the fact that she had gotten uncharacteristically upset and stormed off, but that she sounded more disappointed than angry. Muffy took the last bite of her breakfast sandwich and shrugged,

"Must be menstruating,"

 _ **1:01 p.m**_

 _ **McClintock High - Art Studio**_

There was no one that Wally hated more than Mr. Fife, his guidance counselor who had insisted that Wally needed another art credit to graduate, when he did not. He already had his two credits and was more than pissed off when he realized and it was too late to drop the class. Grumbling under his breath, the blond pounded on the clay, every once in awhile, picking it up and slamming it back on the table. He tried kneading it like dough, then he laughed as he made two circle mounds and poked his index finger right in the middle of both mounds. "Inverted nipples," He chuckled to himself, making the girl beside him jerk her head up,

"What did you just say?" A long black piece of hair had fallen out of Kuki's messy bun and her hands were too gross to fix it, so she settled on jerking her head until it was at least out of her face. And as she jerked her head for the last time she could've sworn she heard Wally Beatles say something about nipples.

"Nothing," His hands were quickly on both mounds trying to crush the evidence, but it really just looked like he was groping clay. Kuki felt like an eighth grader as she bit down on her lip and tried not to laugh. She was a seventeen-year-old girl, she definitely shouldn't have been laughing at the sight of a seventeen-year-old boy fondling clay boobs.

"Wally, do you need help?" She asked, trying to avoid laughing at his reddening cheeks.

"No, I just- I just haven't decided what animal I want to do,"

"Wally we got the assignment a week ago," Kuki said, raising her eyebrows. She was already nearly done with sculpting. Kuki had done a Panda Bear wrapped around a small stick of bamboo. She hoped it would turn out well, if it did (and even if it didn't) she was going to put it on the shelf where she keeps all of her little knick knacks and candles. Her favorite knick knack being her 'Road Rage' Rainbow Monkey and her favorite candle being 'Midnight Blue Citrus' by Bath and Body Works. "You could do a Koala, your mom would love it,"

"I can't give my mom whatever piece of shit I make in here, it'll turn out bad no matter what," Kuki shook her head,

"No, you definitely can- Mom's have to like art pieces their kids make. It's like the most important part of being a parent,"

"I think that probably goes away when that kid is an adult. If Joey made it she would go crazy, but if I make she'll just shrug and put it on the mantle," Kuki raised her eyebrows and sat down on the stool,

"Mm, sounds like you're jealous," She winked just to be sure he knew that she was only teasing. She wasn't sure why she had butterflies in her stomach because, to be quite honest, boys disgusted her. After what happened with Patton she wanted absolutely nothing to do with teenage boys, especially ones that are _friends_ with Patton. Honestly, she wanted far away from anyone who even knows Patton.

She knew it was stupid to think (even for just half a second) that Wally could be different than all of the other assholes that hang around Patton. But watching him push his blond hair out of his face, despite having clay all over his hands, made her giggle and think that hopeful thinking might not be so bad after all. Besides, it's not like she's never been disappointed before.

 _ **4:56 p.m**_

 _ **McClintock High - Mustang Football Stadium**_

Sitting on the bleachers watching his former teammates do sprints up and down the field he felt his leg twitch, as if urging him to get up and just start running. He felt his cheeks beginning to burn from the chilly, windy air. He wrapped his dark coat around him tighter and huffed hot air into his pale and dry hands. He wanted a cigarette. He shook his head. He threw his last pack out a few days ago after realizing how _gross_ they are. They make you smell, they make your lungs turn black, and they made Nigel specifically look like a middle aged business man that had an entire family to support in the 1950's. He had been trying to curb the craving of a cigarette by trying different, less destructive methods to help him cope with his life falling apart. Yoga (middle-aged lady bullshit), music (couldn't listen to it without thinking about Rachel), movies (helped a little; however Netflix only has so many options and he can't afford Hulu, and reading (books are _so_ boring) are all things he had tried. He hmphed under his breath as he saw Coach blow his whistle and call everyone in.

Coach really had been trying to stay supportive, despite Nigel's consistent breakdowns. He always had the team gather around him so he could be 'involved' in their talks both post and pre practice. Not that he listened. None of it really mattered to him anyways. After a few minutes of rambling, they all put their hands in the circle chanted "Mustangs!" and called it a night.

Except for Nigel, who continued to sit in the same spot. And Rachel, who sat down next to him. "So, you and Lizzie break up yet?" Nigel was more than ready to tear into her until they made eye contact and he saw the smirk playing on her lips. Instead he rolled his eyes,

"We were close after that party," He muttered,

"Yeah, thanks for standing up for me, by the way," She snarked sarcastically. It slipped out. She sat down to try and make peace not fuck things up even more, though that's what she was afraid of doing. He just shrugged and ran a hand over his nearly bald head,

"Sorry. I get your point of view. I do. But I feel an obligation to be with Lizzie. Sort of like you with Chad," He thought maybe giving a shitty excuse and changing the subject to something about her would work; get her to talk a lot like she normally does.

"Not anymore. Chad and I broke up,"

"What? When?" He couldn't believe he didn't hear something about that, Lizzie and her friends seem to know everything about everyone (that they deemed important of course, Chad Dickson was still considered important to them despite graduating years ago).

"Awhile ago. You would've known if you would prioritize our friendship like you do your relationship with Lizzie," She said. She internally shrugged, sort of accepting that she's probably doing more bad than good talking to him.

"It's not like you need me anymore," She raised her eyebrows which prompted him to continue, "Aren't you friends with the loser stoners now?"

"You mean the people you're friends with whenever you're not up Lizzie's ass? Yeah," Nigel let out a small laugh that had no absolute no amusement to it and shook his head,

"What do you want?" Rachel shrugged, not moving from her spot.

"I'd like to have my best friend back…" She hesitated and then shrugged again, "But I don't see that happening anytime soon." There was no malice in her voice, no nasty undertone. Just the slightest disappointment was evident, but that was all.

"Yeah. Me neither." And with that, Rachel left.

 _ **10:09 p.m**_

 _ **McDonald's - Parking Lot**_

"Is this why we're fat?" Kade looked over at Hoagie, who was sitting in the driver's seat, working on his second Big Mac. He shook his head, it was too dark to truly tell, but Kade knew that behind Hoagie's glasses, his eyes were getting more and more bloodshot. He swallowed the shittily made burger and said,

"No, dude. Shitty genetics," The five teenagers that were packed in the Subaru were covered in dry sweat from finishing marching band practice an hour before and a few of them were beginning to feel perspiration form on them once again from the lack of cool air.

"This probably doesn't help," Virginia mentioned, shoving a french fry in her mouth and then grabbed the blunt from Bartie and took another hit. Herbie had his back up against the door, his head leaning against the window, chewing his third hash brown.

"Virginia I don't have a dad, I can do whatever the fuck I want to cope with my emotions," Hoagie said, looking at her through the rearview mirror, she only rolled her eyes in response.

"Guys. Snoop Dogg smokes like eighty blunts a day."

"How's he so fucking skinny and sick lookin'? I swear, every blunt I smoke I gain like five pounds with all the junk I eat," Bartie wondered. Hoagie and Kade both rolled their eyes- Bartie looked almost as 'fucking skinny and sick lookin' as Snoop Dogg. Instead of responding, Hoagie cranked the volume so that the Grateful Dead CD was pounding through the speakers and stuck his hand back. Virginia might have griped, but he didn't hear or care- the only thing he cared about was tearing into the greasy sausage McMuffin.

"Gilligan,"

"What?"

"Are you gonna do anything about Abby other than jerk off watching her volleyball highlights?"

"Dude shut the fuck up," Hoagie actually turned around this time to hit Bartie who, despite laughing, clutched his arm,

"Ow,"

"I don't do that," Hoagie said, "That's gross. Now all of you need to shut the hell up. You're ruining my high." He then leaned towards the steering wheel and cranked up the volume even louder and nodded his head along to the beat as he chewed a chicken nugget.

 _As I was walkin' down Grosvenor Square,_

 _Not a chill to the winter but a nip to the air,_

 _From the other direction she was calling my eye,_

 _Could be an illusion but I might as well try, might as well try._

* * *

 **A/N: That song at the end? Scarlet Begonias, good song. Anyways, I'm sorry for the super long wait and I'm sorry things aren't really progressing super quick, that's just the way I planned everything out and how I feel like the story and the characters will best progress. But I do hope you're all doing well and I hope you enjoyed chapter eight! Reviews and ideas and constructive criticism are all welcome and much appreciated! :)**


	9. Mess with the Bull, Get the Horns

**A/N: Hey guys, long time no see! I can't believe the last time I updated was in March, that's insane. Anyways, I'm really sorry for the long wait, but I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

 _ **Friday - 10:12 a.m**_

 _ **McClintock High - Dean of Students' Office**_

Sitting with her arms crossed in the squishy chair, Rachel glared at the brick wall in front of her. Her face and ears were still tomato red and she could feel her teeth grinding. "Ms. McKenzie, I think you are just confused about what you actually saw. Tommy Gilligan would never do what you described,"

"Yeah. I would never do that, especially not to my buddy Harvey," The auburn haired boy said looking over at Rachel and then towards Harvey, a sly grin on his face. She glanced towards him and shook her head, turning back to the balding man sitting behind his desk. She saw all of the trophies and coaching awards and pictures in the huge glass case behind him. For football, of all sports. She shook her head, not even sure why she was bothering with arguing. He would get off scot-free and she would probably have detention for a week.

"With all due respect, sir, I saw him dragging my brother by the shirt collar into the boys bathroom. You can check the security cameras, that's exactly what happened," Biting his bottom lip, Mr. Moore nodded, interlaced his fingers and rested his hands on his desk.

"How about this, we let bygones be bygones. You can have my, and Gilligan's, word that this will not happen again. That way, no one has to face unnecessary punishment. Does that sound okay?" Rachel's eyebrows shot up as she stared at him. Harvey nodded wordlessly as Rachel shook her head, her blonde baby hairs falling out of the french braid Abby did that morning in AP Lit.

"No. Absolutely not. Tommy should have _some_ kind of punishment, and why aren't there parents being called?" She wondered aloud. And then immediately bit her tongue, forgetting that her parents were a thousand miles away on some beach.

"Because we were hoping, Ms. McKenzie, that this situation wouldn't get blown out of proportion. But seeing as you apparently cannot let anything go, I suppose we'll be calling your parents," He glared at her, and then glanced towards Tommy, "And your mom," Rachel felt a sort of pride swell in her chest as she saw the nasty grin that had been on the freshman's face finally fade.

Coach Moore was more than thrilled to find out that the McKenzie's were on vacation and would not be able to come to the school. He knew he just had to butter up Mrs. Gilligan and the situation would blow over. Forgive and forget. But when Mrs. Gilligan showed up about twenty minutes later, she looked flustered and angry. Moore quickly stood up and shook her hand, filling her in on why exactly she had to leave work. "Tommy was allegedly dragging Mr. McKenzie into the bathroom, but we're not entirely sure of the situation quite yet,"

"You look familiar," The middle-aged woman stared at Rachel as the blonde nodded,

"Uh, yeah, I'm Hoagie's class. Rachel McKenzie." She responded. Mrs. Gilligan nodded and then glared over towards her youngest child. And then back towards Rachel,

"So what happened?" When the blonde realized that she was talking to her, she said,

"I was going to the bathroom when I saw Tommy with my brother, dragging him towards the boys bathroom. So I followed them in there and when I saw what Tommy was doing-"

"She began shouting horrible things toward him," Coach Moore interrupted her, making Mrs. Gilligan glare at him and then look back towards Tommy with a melancholy look in her eyes,

"You know what your brother went through,"

"I don't need the guilt trip," Tommy said.

"Obviously you do!" Mrs. Gilligan exclaimed, "I will _not_ tolerate this behavior, _ever_!" Rachel was more than surprised with how the situation had unfolded. She figured that without her parents there to stand up for them, the two McKenzie's would end up fucked, not the other way around. "Coach Moore, he needs to be punished."

"I think a detention and some extra laps at practice will be plenty-" Rachel noticed how the fake smile plastered on his face faded as Mrs. Gilligan shook her head and interrupted him.

"No. He's not playing tonight,"

"Mom, you've _got_ to be kidding me!" Rachel gasped as Tommy nearly hopped out of his chair as he craned his neck to look at his mom, who just scowled at him through her glasses.

"Mrs. Gilligan, I'm sure that we can figure out-"

"No. He's not playing. End of discussion. Now, if we're all done here, I have to get back to work." She had her hands on her hips as she looked expectantly towards Coach Moore. He looked as if he was internally deciding whether or not to argue with her and after a few seconds he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose,

"Yes, Mrs. Gilligan. That will be all. The three of you, get back to class," With a tight-lipped smile, Rachel left the office, with the intent to head back to fourth period, but as she saw Mrs. Gilligan walking towards the front doors, Rachel changed courses.

"Mrs. Gilligan?" The plump lady turned around and faced the seventeen-year-old. In her flustered state, Rachel realized how short Mrs. Gilligan was, which sort of explained Tommy's height, but not Hoagie's. Mr. Gilligan must be tall. "I just wanted to uh- thank you. That was really- I just thought that Harvey and I would've ended up in trouble and-"

"I'm glad you're standing up for your brother, you're doing the right thing. I just wish Hoagie had somebody like that when he was a freshman," She smiled sadly. Glancing back up towards the blonde, who looked as if she was almost in a trance, she smiled. "Now, if you'll excuse me," Rachel nodded as Mrs. Gilligan walked away. She cringed at the pangs she felt in her chest and her stomach. Rachel considered not going back to class, especially when she realized who she had fourth period Spanish with. But instead she sighed, turned and trudged towards the foreign language hallway, ignoring the glare that the young Gilligan boy was giving her.

 _ **11:45 a.m**_

 _ **McClintock High - Cafeteria**_

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Patton looked up from his cheeseburger and scowled at Tommy. The auburn haired boy only shrugged and stabbed into his macaroni and cheese.

"She followed me into the bathroom!" He said through a mouthful of food. "Not my fault she's crazy,"

"We told you Harvey was off limits. _Because_ Rachel's crazy! I literally made a fucking list for you of kids to leave alone. Harvey was at the top of it! And now you're not playing tonight. We're playing the goddamn Goldensdale Lions tonight and you can't fucking play."

"Dude, relax, if things get bad enough, I'm sure Moore will put me in," He said, rolling his eyes. Patton sucked in a deep breath of air as his eyes widened. He shook his head, making Wally bite his lip and suppress a laugh. Wally had always thought Tommy was too cocky. Especially for a freshman. There was absolutely nothing that brought the blond seventeen-year-old more joy than watching Patton tear into him.

"You know what, Gilligan? You should be happy that Rachel didn't beat the fucking shit out of you right there. Because she would've kicked your ass," Patton took a huge bite of his burger and glared up at him, "I wanna beat your ass. How hard is it to just _not_ do things."

"Don't act like you guys didn't do shit like this. My brother was one of your many victims," He pointed out, making Patton shake his head. His face was slowly turning into a dark shade of red and Wally knew it was only a matter of time.

"Dude, that was so different," Pete finally spoke up through a mouthful of salt and vinegar chips. "We were smart enough to wait until _after_ football season,"

"That, and we didn't fuck with your brother nearly as much as we did with Bartie. And Herbie,"

" _Especially_ Herbie," Seth said, with a stupid grin on his face as he and the twins chuckled.

"Notice how I said one of _many_?" Tommy rolled his eyes as he stared at the three. Wally continued to stare at the black haired boy from across the table, willing him to snap. _Actually_ snap. "Besides, somebody needs to establish the patriarchy,"

"The what?" Wally rolled his eyes looking at Pete's blank face,

"Jesus, you've played in like four high school football games and you think you run the damn place," Wally muttered, shaking his head. Tommy glanced up at him, a smirk playing on his lips,

"You take a couple of AP classes and think you're a genius," Tommy mentioned, stabbing into his food, probably a bit more aggressively than necessary. "The difference, Wally, is that I basically do run the place. You're gonna take all of these AP classes and still not get into a halfway decent college," The smug look on Tommy's face didn't fade as Wally's face turned a dark shade of red. As he twitched to make a lunge for the fifteen-year-old, he heard Patton's deep voice and paused.

"Beatles!" He barked, "Don't you fucking dare," He almost did. He glanced back to Tommy and almost made a straight lunge at his throat. But instead he shook his head, stood up and grabbing his bookbag in the process walked away, after staring directly at Patton,

"Fuck you," He felt like Fanny stomping through the main hallway, not really knowing where to go. He couldn't go to any classroom, all of his teachers either hated him or didn't even know him. He couldn't go to Coach Moore's office because Tommy was his perfect football player who could do no wrong. He couldn't go sit somewhere else in the cafeteria; he didn't have any other friends. As he walked past the normally empty courtyard he saw a red bookbag from out of the corner of his eye. He hesitated before pushing open the glass double doors and walking out into the grassy area.

Sitting on the stump of the tree that was cut down because a kid fell out of it, was Nigel Uno, dark bags under his eyes and something between his index and middle fingers. "Is that… a cigarette?"

"Yeah,"

"Those'll slowly kill ya, mate," Wally said, sitting down in the grass, with his back against the stump. Nigel rolled his baby blues and took another drag, coughing immediately after. He still hadn't gotten used to his new habit (that he swore to himself wouldn't last). Wally looked at him with raised eyebrows,

"Shouldn't you be chugging protein shakes with your friends to get ready for tonight?" The nearly bald kid asked through coughs, attitude apparent in his voice. "Crush the Lions, right?" Wally shook his head, sending his blond locks all over the place,

"Tommy pissed me off. He acts like he runs this fucking place and he's barely fifteen. And Patton fucking encourages it, he eggs him on," He ran his fingers through the grass before pulling chunks out with both hands. Nigel shrugged and winced as he adjusted his position, moving his braced knee.

"Somebody has to take over for him once we graduate. Tommy's the perfect candidate; he's a freshman, so he'll be here for the next three years, he's a varsity football player, and he has a huge ego. He's Patton 2.0,"

"And he's a huge dick," Wally muttered, making Nigel slowly nod his head and take another puff.

"I wasn't going to say it, but since you did," He trailed off as Wally angrily pulled more grass out of the ground.

"Shouldn't you be making off making goo goo eyes with your girlfriend? What're you doing out here?" He tried to change the subject; he knew that the last thing he should be doing is beefing about his friends with Nigel Uno. The guy was a wild card, and even though Nigel could usually keep his mouth shut, if he told Lizzie, Wally knew that his ass would be grass.

"I'm a little busy," He said, gesturing towards the cigarette, "Besides, she's mad at me and Rachel's hanging out with her new friends," He sighed, taking one last drag before putting it out on the stump and tossing it on the ground. He tried to ignore the tone of his own voice. He wasn't jealous. Rachel could do whatever she wanted; he couldn't care less.

* * *

"You what?"

"I followed Tommy into the bathroom, said some uh- I had a creatively worded conversation with him which resulted in Moore hearing and freaking out, which resulted in him calling your mom and- yeah,"

"Oh," Hoagie threw his head back and laughed, "She's probably fuckin' _pissed_ ," Rachel nodded, taking a bite of her quinoa salad,

"Yeah, I don't think he's playing tonight," That sent the boys into hysterics. She side eyed Virginia, who had a sly grin on her face as well. The six continued joking around and talking politics and homework that nobody except for Rachel bothered to do throughout the rest of the lunch period. When the bell rang, they all got up and began going their separate ways. Rachel almost let it go, but the tugging in her stomach said otherwise and she jogged to catch up with Hoagie's long strides,

"Hey, Hoagie, can I talk to you?"

"Yeah, what's up?"

"I'm really sorry," She was going to continue, but was interrupted by Hoagie raising his bushy eyebrows and laughing,

"For what? Dude, you're my fucking hero right now,"

"No, not for that. For freshman year. Chad and Cavallero… they were really mean to you guys, but _you_ specifically and it wasn't… cool. It was really fucked up, actually and I'm really sorry I didn't do anything about it. I didn't… I didn't realize how shitty it was until I realized Harvey was going through the same thing- and I'm really sorr-"

"Rachel, shut the fuck up," Her heart stopped. Was he pissed? She felt her heart beat again when he began again, "That was years ago and it wasn't your fault. I'm over it and you should be over it too. I'm just glad you're trying to do something for Harvey, that's cool. But don't apologize, it's cool. We're cool,"

"We're cool?"

"We're cool." She couldn't help smiling when she saw his goofy grin cross his face.

 _ **9:36 p.m**_

 _ **McClintock High - Boys Locker Room**_

Patton hadn't moved from the spot on the wooden bench since he sat down half an hour ago when the game ended. He stared at the ground, still in pads, cleats and his red and white Mustang uniform. It was his fault they lost. Actually, it was Tommy's fault for getting benched. Then Rachel's fault for catching Tommy and Harvey's fault for being so damn punchable. The pass to Doblemitz was _perfect_. Tommy would've easily caught it and the fact that Pete didn't pissed Patton off. How goddamn hard is it to catch a ball? He angrily stood up and ripped his jersey off and then his shoulder pads, leaving them on the ground. He ripped off his pants and everything else along with them and stomped towards the shower. He was so goddamn tired of this team.

He was never going to get anywhere if him and some asshole freshman were the only two on the team that could play football. After turning on the locker room shower and standing underneath the lukewarm water, he punched the gross tile. He didn't even want to think about what his dad was going to say when he got home. Patton imagined something about him being a 'fucking disappointment'. Ignoring the pain coursing through his hand he finished trying to wash off some of the dried sweat and the layer of sadness he felt covering him. He should've known he wasn't going to have a perfect record this year; it's just not realistic. Neither is getting into a good college or ever amounting to anything.

After slightly drying off he slid on a tee shirt, his letterman jacket and pair of basketball shorts and gathered all of things trying to mentally prepare himself. Walking out of the locker room into the chilly October night he felt his heart stop when he heard a voice, "Hey,"

"Jesus fuckin' Christ you scared me," Patton looked at the redhead with the white bow in her hair, "What do you want?" He didn't necessarily mean to spat at her (though he had been doing that a lot lately) and he immediately regretted it when he saw her face twist in anger.

"Fuck you," And she turned around and stormed off. Not that Patton really cared anyways. He never cared.

* * *

 **A/N: To be totally honest, I've sort of lost some inspiration for this fic, however, lately I've gotten some inspiration and I'm back to writing. Hopefully the next update won't be over half a year later like this one was. I really appreciate you guys for sticking around, and as always, I would really appreciate reviews and if there is anything you would like to see, let me know, I could always use some new ideas!**

 **xoxo,**

 **Maddie**


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